


Working Class Hero

by Cecilosfangirl



Series: Working Class Hero series [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-04-26 04:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4990534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cecilosfangirl/pseuds/Cecilosfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She used to be normal. She used to be just a normal 12 year old girl from New York. That is until her dad decides it is a good idea to move to some small town in New Jersey called Glass Shard Beach. Why? She asked herself. Why did she have to become friends with Stanley and Stanford Pines? If she hadn't maybe, just maybe, she might have stayed normal. <br/>*Now more improved up on Fanfiction.net under the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Upside Down

Big fluffy white clouds moved lazily across the sky as a bird flew over the blue-green ocean. The waves licked the hot golden sand as a pair of bright green eyes stared ahead. A small red radio sat above her and the soft sounds coming from it blended with the sound of the waves and the occasional caw of a seagull.

She really should get down. The blood would pretty soon start rushing to her head and she would faint again. But the world looked so different upside down. You got a whole new perspective of it. To her, the sky was gold and full of seashells. The ground was a vast blue blanket and was cut off by another light blue one covered in balls of cotton.

Pushing herself forwards, she swung her body slightly and watched as the world moved back and forth.

She gasped and stopped swinging when her emerald eyes met with a pair of brown ones. The girl fell of the red swing set bar and landed with a 'oof ' onto the sand.

"What were you doin' hangin' from the swings upside down?" The boy asked. She looked up at him and jumped slightly when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and her eyes met with another pair of brown eyes, the same as the other boy only these eyes were behind glasses.

"Do you need help getting up?" The boy wearing the glasses asked her.

She shook her head and stood up, dusting herself off, getting rid of the sand now on her shorts.

"Why were you hanging upside down?" The first boy repeated.

"I like hanging upside down." She answered. She finally got a good look at the almost identical boys.

They were twins, she realized. The only difference were their clothes. The one with glasses wore a black jacket and white shirt and the other one wore a red and white striped shirt. He had a bandaid on his left cheek and was missing a tooth but other than that, they were identical.

"Why?" The first boy asked looking confused.

"Because I like looking at things that way." She said with a huff.

"You're new right? I've never seen you before." The boy with the glasses said.

The girl nodded. "Yep. Just moved here. I'm from New York."

The twins looked at her in surprise and awe.

"Whoa! New York! That's so cool." The boy with the bandaid said with a grin.

She smiled and stuck out a hand. "My name's Catherine. Catherine Davis."

The one with the glasses smiled and stepped forward, shaking her hand.

"I'm Stanford Pines. And that's my brother Stanley."

She looked down at their hands and her eyes widened. Stanford had six fingers.

She let go and looked up at him in surprise. "You have six fingers?"

Stanford's smile fell and looked hurt. "Yeah. I do."

Stanley suddenly stepped forward in a protective manner and frowned at her.

She saw their reaction and shook her head rapidly. "I didn't mean anything by it! I was just surprised. I've never seen a hand with six fingers. It's really cool though."

Stanford smiled again. "Really? You think it's cool? You're not gonna make fun of me or call me a freak?"

"Why would I do that?" She said confused. "That's mean."

"I like you." Stanley told her with a grin and looked at his brother. "We should ask her to come looking for mystery stuff with us."

"Yeah." Stanford said and looked at Catherine. "Wanna be friends?"

She grinned. "Sure! You two are my first friends here!"

They suddenly hear a male voice call out her name and she turns around to answer.

"Coming dad!"

She turns back around to face the twins and smiles sadly at them.

"That's my dad calling. I gotta go."

They nodded and say goodbye. She grabbed her red radio started to walk over to where her dad was but turned back around.

"Where can we meet? I don't know where you guys live."

"Just come back here." Stanley said.

"Ok. See you guys!" Catherine said and gave them a wave.

Running over to her dad, she gave him a hug and had a big grin on her face.

"What are you so happy about? Last I saw you, you were still moping about having to leave New York." Her dad said after she stopped hugging him.

"I made two friends!" She clapped her hands together happily.

"That's great sweetie." Her dad smiled at her. He grabbed her hand and they walked back to their car.

"I think I remember seeing an ice cream shop around here. Want some?"

"Yeah!" Catherine cheered. And she excitedly got into the car.

* * *

"So what are you friends' names?" Catherine's dad asked as he took a sip of his Coke.

"Well, for one," she gave her vanilla cone a lick. "Their twins. One of them has glasses so I can tell who's who. The one with the glasses is Stanford and his brother is Stanley."

Her dad turned to her. "They're boys?"

"Yeah. Of course." She gave her ice cream another lick.

"I thought you meant you're friends were girls."

"Oh. Why?"

"I just thought you would want to have friends that were girls. You know, to play with." Her dad put his Coke down and looked at her.

"I can play with boys dad." She said frowning.

"Yes I know that but boys tend to play a little more rough than girls and I don't want you getting hurt."

She looked down at her feet. "I know how to take care of myself dad. Besides, they're the first to not notice what I am."

Her dad gave her a confused look. "What you are?"

"Yeah. They didn't care if I'm Mexican. They wanted to be my friend."

They were silent for a minute. She looked up at her dad and saw him staring in front, a serious expression on his face.

"Dad?"

He blinked and got up from the bench they were sitting on. "Let's go home. We have a lot of unpacking to do. Plus, don't you want to start painting your room?"

"Yay!" Catherine cheered and hopped off the bench, the previous conversation quickly forgotten.

* * *

"Whoa! This is soooooo awesome!" She said excitedly as Catherine admired the big boat in front of her. "You guys built this?"

"Well no. We found it in a old cave. But we dragged it out so we could fix it up." Stanley said, looking extremely proud. "We call it the 'Stan o'War'. "

She snorted and covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"What's so funny?" Stanley asked.

"Nothing! Nothing." She put her hand on the side of the boat and felt the smooth and somewhat damp surface.

"Can I...can I get on it?"

"Sure!" Stanley said happily and lifted her up. She gave a small Yelp in surprise and her cheeks turned a light pink.

"Wow, you're really light." Stanley commented as he climbed in after her and Ford right behind him.

"Me and Stan are planning to use this to sail away and solve all sorts of mysteries!"

"Cool." Catherine said as she looked around the small ship. "Can I come with?"

"Yeah sure. The more the merrier!" Stanford said with a grin and fixed his glasses.

They heard laughter and the three turned to see a group of boys pointing and laughing at the them.

"Wow! I never thought I'd ever see you dorks talking to an actual girl! Even more to get her on your stupid boat."

"Shut up Crampelter!" Stanley shouted at them as Ford glared at them behind his glasses.

"Make me Pines!" The boy yelled back and Stanley growled, stepping forward. Ford grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"Don't. He isn't worth it."

"Looks like you're brother is smart after all. Knows you can't win in a fight with me." The boy says smugly. He is suddenly hit in the head with a rock and he stumbles a bit before looking over at the twins with a death glare.

"Which one of you idiots did that?!"

"I did!"

The Pines twins and group of boys all turned to look at the girl who had spoken up. Catherine had a glare on her face and her hands were held into fists. She picked up another stone and threw it at the boy. It hit him in the shoulder and made him stumble again.

"Leave my friends alone! You big jerk!" She yelled at the group and threatened to throw an even bigger stone then the last one.

The group of boys looked at the girl and started laughing.

"As-as if some 'spic is gonna make us leave with a few rocks!"

Catherine's hand fell to her side and she stepped back, her eyes on the floor of the boat. She felt the corner of her eyes prickle with threatening tears but she forced them not to fall.

She then looked back up when she heard one of the twins scream at the group bullying them.

"Leave her alone! A few rocks might not hurt you but a lot will." Stanley said as he picked up a few rocks and started throwing them at the boys and a few seconds later Ford joined in.

The boys began to try and block all of the rocks and ran away, afraid of getting more hurt.

The twins cheered happily. "Yeah! Pines! Pines! Pines!"

They stopped their cheering at the sound of sniffling behind them.

They turn around to find Catherine looking at her feet, her shoulders shaking slightly.

"Hey, you ok?" Stanford asked softly.

"Yeah, why are you crying?" Stanley walked over to her and bent down to look at her face.

He was taken by surprise when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

His cheeks turned red and he heard her mumble into his shoulder.

"Thanks."

"F-for w-what?" He stuttered out.

Catherine let go and stepped back, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"For sticking up for me. No ones ever done that."

Stan and Ford looked at each other and looked back at her. "Why wouldn't we stick for you? You stuck up for us."

"What did he call you anyway?" Stanford asked her.

"He called me a 'spic. It's short for Hispanic. It's a mean word to call Mexicans."

"You're Mexican?" Ford said surprised.

She nodded and looked sad again. "You don't have to be my friends anymore if you don't want to. Most kids don't want to after they know that."

"Why? What's so bad about being Mexican? You're normal like us." Stanford said.

"We want to be your friends." Stanley added and his brother nodded.

Catherine smiled at them and hugged them both. "You guys are awesome."

The twins hugged her back and after the three separated, they grinned at each other.

"Ok, but next time, you better let me punch them point-dexter. They deserve it even more now."

Both Ford and Catherine laughed as Stanley acted out how he would beat them up the next time they saw them.


	2. On top of the World

"Come guys! You can ride those things faster than that!" Catherine yelled from her turquoise bicycle as she looked behind her at her two best friends. Her brown hair swished behind her as she gave a laugh, peddling faster.

"Where...does she...get all that...energy?!" Stanford asked his twin brother between breaths as they tried to catch up to her on their red and black bicycles. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

"I have no idea!" Stanley answered as he looked forward. A determined look crossed his face. "But I am not going to let some girl beat me at a race!"

Stan bent forward and peddled faster moving ahead of Ford.

With a sigh and roll of his eyes, he peddled faster as well.

Catherine glanced to her side and gave Stan a grin as she turned a corner. He felt his cheeks grow hot but shook his head and followed after her.

"Come on Stanley! You're making this boring! There's no competition!"

Her mouth shut closed after Stan came up beside her, winked at her and rode ahead of her with a cheer.

He crossed their drawn finish line and he raised his hands up in the air.

"Whoo hoo! Stanley Pines wins again!!" He said getting off his bike and pumping a fist into the air.

"No fair! You distracted me." Catherine said, pouting as she got off her bike and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I know. I tend to do that to girls." Stan said winking and giving her a flirtatious grin.

"You better not let Carla hear you talk like that." Catherine said smirking back when the grin fell from his mouth to a panicked look.

"You wouldn't!" He said.

"Oh, I would." She said as she gave him an innocent smile and took out her water bottle from her book bag.

Truth was, she would never tell Carla about something like that. She didn't really like her, and knew Carla didn't like her but Stan was her best friend so if Carla made him happy then she was happy too. After five years of her and him being friends, she had grown to care about him more than just a friend. He made her happy with just a glance or smile. He made her laugh without even trying and when he would touch her hand or hug her, her insides would explode into a warm, light feeling. She knew she was in love with him and as much as it hurt her to see him with Carla, she kept her mouth shut because if it made him happy, well then so was she.

Their attention shifted when Ford finally showed up, dragging his bike with him and falling to the ground.

"Let's never do that again." He mumbled, his face still on the ground. Catherine giggles as Stan goes over and lifts up his brother.

"I knew it was a bad idea to let you quit boxing."

"Yeah well...I had to focus on school. Do you know...how much time boxing practice takes up?" He said huffing, completely out of breath.

Catherine walks over to him and hands him her water bottle which earned her a grateful look from Ford.

"Thanks." He muttered and she smiled.

She grabbed two more from her book bag and tossed one to Stanley which he caught easily and opened one up for herself. She raised it to her lips but froze when she saw Stan drink from his.

' _Don't stare. Don't stare. Don't stare._ ' She repeated over and over again in her head but failed as she watched him drink the water. Ford shoved an elbow into her side which took her out of her daze and she blushed. She gave a thankful look and he smirked, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.

He knew all about her crush on his brother. She had told him when they were in 7th grade. But even if she hadn't, it was easy to tell. The girl couldn't make it more obvious.

"Speaking of boxing practice, I gotta get going. I have practice in 15 minutes and I have to take Carla out later." Stan said closing his bottle of water and picking up his bike.

"What? But I thought we were gonna go back to my place and watch old horror movies." Catherine said, disappointed.

"Ford can hang out with you. Unless you want to come with me to practice?"

Catherine's mind erupted with images of Stanley boxing and began to feel her palms sweat and her knees turn to jelly. She gone with him before but never again. She had gotten two nosebleeds when she had gone. "Nah. It's alright." She turned to Stanford. "You still up for it?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah sure."

She grinned and clapped her hands together. "Yay!"

The twins chuckled at her enthusiasm. She still acted as if she was still 12.

"Well, I'll see you guys later then."

Stan got back on his bike, gave them a wave and rode away.

The other two got back on their bikes as well and Ford looked over to Catherine.

"Can we please go slow this time? I don't want to get a heart attack at only 17."

"Fine." Catherine said with an exaggerated sigh. Ford grinned at her and they rode off to her house.

* * *

 

"You really need to stop doing that. He's going to notice eventually." Ford said as he turned the screwdriver in his hand and tightened up one of the screws on his machine.

Catherine pulled her knees up to her chin as she sat on the living room couch, watching him work on his science project. "What are you talking about?"

They had gone back to his house after about three movies and he had started to work on his science project for the science fair in a few weeks.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." He said not looking up at her.

"No actually I don't." She responded.

He sighed and looked up. Ford pushed his glasses up and gave her a serious look.

"I'm talking about the whole 'staring' thing earlier."

She blushed and looked down at the floor. "Oh. That." She frowned and looked up at Ford. "Well it's not my fault that your brother's attractive."

Ford laughs and Catherine couldn't help but grin.

"Ok, ok. But really, I need help with this! I can't keep this up and you're right, he's going to find out eventually." Catherine said, putting her face into her hands.

Ford's laughter dies down and he gives her a sympathetic look. He reaches over and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. He won't find out. Stan isn't that quick to catch on. Just make sure you stop staring so much." He smirks. "I've seen you doing it during math."

She looks up at him, her cheeks red and she shoves him playfully.

"And you didn't tell me?!" She laughs.

"Well it was funny to see you stare at him the way you do. I could practically read your mind!" Ford puts his hands together and presses them to his cheek.

" 'Oh Stanley! You're soooooo handsome!' " he said in a high pitched voice, fluttering his eyelashes. He gives her a grin and she laughs as she throws a cushion at him.

"Ok! I get it!"

"I can still remember how in freshman year, the teacher hit you in the head with a ruler because you weren't paying attention. You were too busy doodling little hearts with Stan's name in them." He says bending over in laughter.

"Quit it!" Catherine yells at him but she laughs as well.

Their laughter was cut short when the front door opened and in walked Stanley. He was extremely quiet, his hair was messy and his shirt untucked.

"Hey Stan. You alright?" Ford asked from the floor.

He didn't answer as he hung up his jacket and stared at the floor.

"Stanley?" Catherine says quietly but loud enough for him to hear her.

He turns around and walks to his room.

"Stan, what happe-" Ford tried to ask but Stan cut him off.

He look at them and they saw that his eyes were red and puffy.

"I'm fine. Just...just leave me alone." His voice quivered towards the end and he runs into his room, slamming the door close.

Ford and Catherine looked at each other confused.

"What was that about?" She asks.

Ford shrugs. "I don't know."

Catherine glances up at the clock on the wall and gasps. "Shit! I have to get home! My dad is going to kill me!"

She got up off the couch and grabbed her jacket. "Try and talk to Stan. See what's wrong."

He nods and she gives him a hug. "See you tomorrow at school."

She leaves and walks to her bike outside, tied to a pole with a chain.

Hopping on, she rides off, her eyes trained on the road in front of her. Her mind though was still on Stanley.

Why was he like that? What happened? She frowned as she turned a corner. ' _So help me if anyone hurt him_...'

* * *

 

"So what happened?" Catherine asked Ford as she looked up from her English homework. She was at his house again, her dad at work, and she sat next to him as he read from his physics book.

"Well turns out Carla left him." Ford said. "Stupid reason to be depressed but I'm not him I guess."

"What?!" Catherine yelled angrily. "For who?"

"I don't know." Ford answered sounding uninterested. "Some guy. Stan said he could play guitar. That's why Carla left him."

Her jaw tightened and she stood up, tossing her work aside. "What's wrong?" Stanford asked, surprised.

She didn't answer and walked over to Stanley's room. She raised a fist to the door and knocked.

"Open the door Stanley. You can't stay in there forever."

"Yes I can. Watch me." She heard him say from behind the door.

With a sigh, she grabbed the door knob and shoved her shoulder against the door. She didn't expect the door to open so easily making her stumble in.

Stan looked at her with wide eyes and a surprised expression.

Catherine gained her balance back and looked at him with her arms crossed. His eyes were still red but not as much as before, his clothes were dirty and full of wrinkles, his hair was a mess and he desperately needed a shave.

She walk over to him and grabbed his ear, pulling him up from his bed. With a yelp of pain and shock, Stanley followed her to the bathroom.

She took out shaving cream and a razor and put some cream on her hand. "You are not going to stay stuck in your room for the rest of your life over some girl. Forget her."

"I can't. I love her." Stan said quietly, looking like he wanted to cry again.

She felt her heart break slightly but she hid it. "Oh no! You are not crying again! Quit being depressed. You are so lame like that."

Her body froze when she heard him chuckle.

"Thanks." He said smiling at her. "I appreciate you caring so much about me."

Her cheeks grew hot and she tried not to make eye contact. "Yeah. Whatever."

She reached up and put the shaving cream on his cheeks and chin, her fingers getting electric shocks as she touched his skin.

She reached down and grabbed the razor.

"I can shave on my own Cath." Stan said chuckling at her.

"I don't really trust you shaving in the emotional state you're in." She answered. 

"Oh and I'm supposed to trust you?" Stan said.

"Do you?" She asked.

He was quiet for a few seconds but then spoke.

"Yes. Absolutely."

She didn't say anything and started sliding the razor across his skin.

Her face felt hot and she continued to avoid his eyes, knowing she'd want to kiss him if she looked at his eyes. The air was thick with tension and she could barely breathe.

Thankfully the process didn't last long and she quickly turned around, facing the sink, washing the razor.

She felt hands on her waist and the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood up. She turned back to face Stan and felt her throat close up and herself become lightheaded as she stared at his chocolate brown eyes. For some reason, her body decided to act on its own and she raised a hand up to his cheek, feeling the smooth skin.

"There," she whispered. "That's better."

"Thanks." Was all he whispered back.

Her brain finally got control again and she blinked, her face red.

She dropped her hand from his face and she stepped away from him. He had a disappointed look on his face but she ignored it, not wanting to get her hopes up.

Clearing her throat, she wrung her hands together and looked at the floor. "Well, come on. We're going out."

Stanley looked at her confused, the disappointed look gone. "Going out? Where?"

"I don't know. Somewhere. We just gotta get you out of this house. Have some fun!" She said happily, successfully acting as if the previous situation never happened.


	3. Chasing Cars

The car doors closed shut as Stanley looked over to Catherine who sat in the passenger seat. Ford was in the back, still reading his physics book.

"So..." Stan said looking at his friend. "Where are we going?"

Catherine opened her mouth to reply but closed it. She really didn't think this through.

"I...don't know." She said sheepishly. "I just wanted to get you out of the house." She turned around to Ford. "You got any ideas Fordsy."

He glanced up from his book. "No." His eyes went back to pages but said. "And don't call me 'Fordsy'."

She pouted her lips and huffed. "You're no fun." She turned back around and an idea popped into her head.

"I know! Let's go bowling!"

"Bowling?" Stan said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! My dad took me all the time when we lived in New York." She said enthusiastically.

"What do you think sixer?" Stan asked his brother.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He muttered, not looking up from his reading.

"Okay. Bowling it is!"

"Whoo hoo!" Catherine cheered as Stanley put the keys into the ignition and the car drove down the road.

* * *

 

"Yes! Alright!" Catherine exclaimed as she threw her hands into the air. "Strike!"

"You were just lucky on that one." Stanley said grabbing his ball. "I'm still winning."

"Whatever." She stuck out her tongue at him, making him laugh.

"Come on Ford! Play with us!" She said going over to Stanford.

He looked up from his book and shook his head. "No thanks. I'm good here reading."

"But that's booorrrring!" She whined. "Come on! Please!"

Ford tried avoiding her eyes but when he heard her whimpering, he sighed putting down his book.

"Fine."

She grinned and went over to Stan. Before he could throw his ball, she took it from his hand and handed it to Ford.

"Hey!" Stan said giving her an annoyed look.

"Oh just grab another one." She said grinning.

"Ford could have grabbed another ball." He said frowning.

"Yes. But you're such a nice person that you'll let your brother have yours." She said. She batted her eyelashes at him and he tossed his hands in the air.

"Ugh! How do you have this much control?!"

"It's one of the perks of being female." She giggled at his glare and watched as Ford threw his ball down the aisle. The ball hit all the pins, making him smirk.

"Alright Ford!" Catherine said clapping her hands. Stan rolled his eyes but smiled. He watched as his best friend hugged his brother and his face turned red, telling her that it wasn't necessary to hug him.

His smile fell when he remembered about the reason they were even here. Carla. God did he miss her. It hurt so much. Why did she leave? Wasn't he good to her? Didn't he give her everything he could? Not really. He couldn't play that stupid instrument.

Stan felt a lump form in his throat but he swallowed it down. He was not going to get emotional again.

As he looked at his brother and his friend laughing and talking, his gaze shifted more and more to Catherine. His mind went back to the small moment they had earlier. What was that? He still loves Carla so why did his heart race when she had touched his face, why did he want to kiss her so much? He was still in love with Carla so why was he thinking about his friend this way?

"Come on Stan! It's your turn!" Catherine's voice took him out of his thoughts and he blinked.

"Oh. Right, right." He said. He walked over to the two of them and Ford handed him the bowling ball.

"You do realize the points Ford scored are technically mine since he rolled on my turn." He said to Catherine.

"What? No way! That is no fair!" She complained, glaring at him. She put her hands on her hips and he laughed.

"You shouldn't have given the ball to Ford then."

He laughed when he heard her curse under her breath and rolled the ball, forgetting about his previous thoughts.

* * *

 

The sound of a piano came out of the car radio and Catherine let out a small gasp.

"Oh man, I love this song!" She said and she leaned over, turning the knob to raise the volume.

"-do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow?" She sang along to the lyrics, swaying to the music. "Well, I know that you're in love with him. 'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym. You both kicked off your shoes. Man, I dig those rhythm and blues!"

"What song is this?" Stan asked glancing her way.

"American Pie." She answers and continues to sing along.

Stan smiles as he hears her sing next to him. She wasn't great but she wasn't bad either. It was nice. He would have to cut her singing short though when he looked in the rear view mirror and saw Ford's head leaning on the right side window, his book open on his lap.

"Might wanna keep the singing volume to a low 'cause Ford's knocked out." He said and Catherine stopped singing looking behind her.

"Oh! Sorry!" She whispers and sticks to only humming the song. After a few seconds of only listening to the music, Catherine turned to Stan.

"You feeling better about the whole...you know...?" She asked.

He gave her a confused look. "Know what?" 

"You know, the whole...'Carla' thing."

"Oh." He said simply. He had forgotten all about it. "I guess. I kinda forgot about it."

"Shit! Sorry! I didn't want you to remember it!" She said, looking down at her lap. "God, I'm such an idiot."

"Shut up."

"What?" Catherine looked up, surprised.

"I said shut up. Don't call yourself an idiot. You're not." He told her. "You're the smartest person I know! Next to Ford I mean."

"Aw geez Stanley..." She said quietly, her cheeks red.

"Really! You are!" He smiled. "Thanks by the way. I don't think I would have ever left my room if you hadn't dragged me out."

"I didn't like seeing you like that." She said, looking now but still blushing. "It's kinda unnerving to see you all depressed. I'm so used to seeing you all full of energy."

He snorted but didn't look at her. He didn't want her seeing him blush.

"Oh! I almost forget. You better tell me who that guy was that made Carla leave you. I need to beat the shit out of him. Her too if you let me."

Stanley laughed this time. "You don't have to beat them up." His laughing died down. "It...it was going to happen eventually."

"What is that supposed to mean." She said, narrowing her eyes.

All of his insecurities came pouring out at that moment.

"Well, let's face it. She deserved better than me. Come on! Look at me! I'm not that good looking and I'm not smart like my brother. It's like dad always tells Ford. 'You're so much better than your idiot brother. Don't let him hold you back.' And that's exactly what I was doing to Carla. Holding her back. She could have been with someone so much better and it was only a matter of time till she realized that." Catherine was quiet the entire time. He looked over at her and saw she staring at her hands. Her hair was covering her face so he couldn't see her face.

"Cath? You ok? Please...say something?"

"We're here." She said.

"Huh?"

"My house! We're here!" She said angrily.

He jumped and pulled over to the curb. She was right. Her house was down the street, the porch light on.

"Are you...are you angry?" He asked, surprised.

"No! I'm not!" She said clenching her hands into fist, her knuckles white.

He stared at her completely confused.

"Of course I'm angry you ass! How could you think that about yourself?! Who cares about what your dad thinks?! I sure as hell don't! Carla was the idiot here! She has zero clue about she lost!" Catherine ran a hand through her hair, her face red from anger. "Any girl would be lucky to even know you! I know I am! You are probably one of the sweetest, kindest, funniest, and down right amazing person I've ever met!"

Stanley looked at her, eyes wide and he felt his cheeks heat up.

"Cath...I..." He stuttered.

"The reason I wanted to help you was because I don't like seeing you sad and hurt. You always make me happy with just being around me and I want to make you that happy." She talked more quietly now, sounding like she wanted to cry. "It made me so mad when Stanford told me Carla left you for someone else. I was so mad to see how much she hurt you. I wanted to slap her stupid face so bad! But...I knew you were only like that because you loved her and she had broken your heart. No hit could hurt her as much as she had hurt you so even if I had hit her, it would have been pointless."

He was speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Cath..." He reached a hand to touch he but she flinched when his fingers touched her arms.

"Don't! Just...don't" she said, her voice quivering. He pulled back, hurt.

"I'm sorry. Please...please don't cry." He said softly.

She looked at him and his heart broke. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her bottom lip quivered slightly. She caught him off guard when she leaned over and hugged him.

"Don't ever say those things about yourself again. Please?" She murmured into his shoulder.

"Ok. Whatever you want. Just please don't be sad." He said closing his eyes, wrapping his arms around her.

She pulled away and he gave her a smile.

"You are so beautiful." He said quietly. He had no idea why he said it but it was true. And he always spoke his mind.

She gave a weak laugh. "Shut up. Quit lying."

"No really! You are. I mean it. Any guy would be lucky to date you." He said. For some reason she looked disappointed when he said that but the look was gone in a blink of an eye.

"I guess I should get home then. My dad will be wondering where I am."

"Yeah." He said. Stan gently grabbed her shoulders and kissed her forehead softly. "Good night."

"Good night." She replied so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

He watched her walk into her house and give him a small wave before closing the door. He drove off to his house and thought over what she had told him. No one had ever told him those things. He felt different. He didn't really know what to call what he was feeling but he kinda liked it.


	4. Thunder Road

A/N: sorry for the weird POV switch. I wanted to show of both of their thoughts in this.

 

Catherine closed her locker door with a clang. She gave a soft sigh and slung her book bag over her shoulder. She was tired as hell and the day wasn't even halfway over. She had math next and physics and English still to come.

"-you out of your mind?!" A female voice yelled. The voice sounded angry. Really angry.

"Come on! You have to admit the look on his face was pretty funny." A male voice answered. That voice she recognized easily.

She rounded the corner and saw Stanley arguing with Carla, the latter looking extremely mad.

"Nothing about what you did was funny Stanley! Do know how much money it is going to cost him to fix his van?!"

"No I don't! And I don't care!" He yelled back.

Catherine had never seen Stan yell at Carla before. She couldn't say she didn't like it. After all, she had hurt him. Sadly, she knew Stan was going to lose this argument, about whatever it may be. He couldn't stay mad at Carla for a long time.

"Hey Stan. What's going on?" She said, cutting in.

He jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around.

"Cath!" He smiled at her and she felt her heart flutter. God, he was so cute.

Carla looked at her and gave her a glare. "Your friend here is completely insane. I have no idea how you put up with him!"

Stan looked hurt and she looked at Carla. "What did he do now?"

"Why doesn't he tell you! I have to get to class." She said with a huff. "Don't talk to me again." Carla said, glaring at Stan.

His shoulders slumped and he looked at his shoes with a sigh.

"What happened?" Catherine asked, grabbing his arm.

"I may have ruined her date last night." He muttered.

"How?" She asked cautiously. She had to prepare herself for whatever crazy thing he had done this time.

"I may or may not have driven her boyfriends car into a ravine." He shut his eyes, waiting to hear her scolds but instead he heard the complete opposite.

He looked at her in surprise as she laughed, clutching her stomach. She calmed down and wiped her eyes.

"Holy shit! You- you actually drove his car into a ravine! That is hilarious! How- how did he look when he found out? Oh, I can just imagine!"

Stan smiled. He was extremely glad she wasn't mad at him. He didn't think he could handle it if she stopped talking to him.

Catherine gave him a playful punch in the shoulder and grinned. "Why the hell didn't you ask me to come with?"

Stanley rubbed his shoulder and chuckled. "Well, I didn't think you would want to go. It was after you yelled at me."

Her smile faded. "Oh. Right." She had forgotten about that. After she got into bed, she completely knocked out from all the emotional stress she felt.

"So..." Catherine muttered, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "You, um, ready for that math test?"

Stanley paled at the mention of the test and he swore under his breath.

"Shit. No."

She giggled and grabbed his hand. "You won't do that bad. Trust me."

Catherine had to drag him to the math room, Stan begging her to let him skip the test, that he would make it up some other time.

They entered the room and the teacher frowned in their direction.

"Miss Davis. Mr. Pines. So glad you two can join us." He said sarcastically. "Get to your seats and take out a pencil."

Stanley went over to his desk but Catherine grabbed his hand. He gave her a confused look and she winked at him. He felt her slip something into his hand and she walked over to her own desk, sitting down and grabbing a pencil.

He sat down and looked at what she had handed him.

Catherine watched as Stan unfolded the piece of paper and she smiled when she saw him freeze. His head whipped around to look at her, a surprised but extremely grateful look on his face. He mouthed out the words 'thank you' and she nodded at him.

She felt something tap her on the shoulder and she turned around. Ford sat behind her, giving her a disapproving look.

"That's the second time you come late to class. You're gonna end up getting detention." He whispers angrily to her.

"And? What do you care?" She snapped back.

"I don't want you to get in trouble. You know your dad doesn't really like us and if he finds out it's Stanley's fault you got detention, he won't let you hang out with us anymore." His frown turned into a smirk. "And we all know how depressed you'll be if you ever stop talking to Stanley. We both know you can't handle being more than a few hours apart from him."

She glared at him but she had to agree. She didn't want to stop hanging out with the both of them.

"Catherine! Stanford!" The teacher called and they both jumped. The class snickered as they quickly looked back at their tests, both of their faces red and they began to write furiously.

Stanley stared at the two of them and he felt an odd feeling enter him when he saw his brother and his friend talking. Why were their faces red? What were they talking about? What was so important that they had to talk during a test? Ford never talked during tests. He frowned. What did he care? They could talk about what ever they wanted, why was he suddenly now jealous that they were. A better question was, why was he jealous in the first place? He put his head into his hand. All this thinking was giving him a headache. He looked back down at his test and started to fill out the answers.

* * *

 

Stanley fidgeted with his hands nervously as the teacher handed back their tests. He looked over to his brother and saw him laughing about something with Catherine. He felt himself glare at him and looked back at his hands.

' _Stop being jealous! You have no right to be jealous! They're just talking. Nothing new_.' He scolded himself but he had a feeling why.

' _You like her. Admit it_.' The other half of his thoughts said. His realization was cut short when his teacher handed him his math test.

"I don't know how you did it Pines but...good job. Hopefully this isn't the last good grade I see from you." He walked away to hand out the rest and Stanley stared at the piece of paper on his desk. He gaped at the grade letter in the corner and a grin grew on his face.

The letter was a B in bright red ink.

He quickly got up, grabbing his test and walked over to Catherine. He interrupted Ford and her conversation by wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up in a tight hug.

"You are amazing!" He told her happily.

She looked at him confused, her face red. "W-what are y-you talking about?" She stuttered. Stanley hugging her like this and so suddenly was too much for her to even speak right.

He put her down and spoke rapidly, still grinning. "The test! Look what I got!" He handed her his test and looked at it, her eyes widening when she saw the grade. Ford looked over her shoulder and his jaw dropped.

"H-how did you get this?!" He asked completely shocked.

"My beautiful friend here gave me this before the test, after we came in." Stan said as he handed Ford the small folded piece of paper Catherine had handed him.

Stanford unfolded the paper and stared at it. The paper had almost all of the notes they had written down a day before. No wonder he got such a good grade.

"You let him use your notes?" He asked Catherine. She looked at Ford and nodded.

"Yeah. Why not? I already studied." She said.

"Yep! She didn't need 'em 'cause she's so smart!" Stanley said putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. Catherine's face turned into a deep scarlet as she stood stiffly at his side.

She was going to faint.

Ford smirked at her and handed the notes back to her. She took them quickly and stuffed them into her jeans pocket. Seeing Ford's smirk, she glared at him.

"Don't say a word." She said through clenched teeth. Ford raised an eyebrow but his smirk remained on his lips.

Stanley looked between the two of them confused and he opened his mouth to ask what she had meant but the bell for the next class rung before he could speak.

"Shit, that's the bell. Come on sixer. We gotta get to English." Stanley said, nodding to his twin. He lets Catherine go and gives her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks again for the notes! I owe you one!"

"Yeah." She murmurs her mind foggy. Ford grabs his book bag and chuckles.

"You alright there? You look like Cupid shot you with an arrow." He says.

That earned him a punch in the shoulder from Catherine who only responded with "Shut up."

* * *

 

The air was cool on her skin as she walked down the block of her street. Catherine shivers as she rubs her arms, regretting to not bring a sweater.

She went up the stairs to her house, two steps at a time and took out her key. The sound of arguing from behind the front door made her crease her eyebrows in confusion. She unlocked the door and the arguing got louder.

"Dad? Papi?" She said. "Que esta pasando?"

Whatever else she was going to say died in her throat when she saw her dad talking to a woman in the kitchen. Her mother.

"Mom?" She chocked out. Her book bag fell to floor and she stared shocked at her mom. She hadn't seen her since she was 6.

"What...what are you doing here?"

"Hi mi amor." Her mother said sweetly. Catherine felt anger bubble in her gut and she glared at her.

"What is she doing here dad?" She turned to her father. He ran a hand through his greying brown hair and let out a sigh.

"Sweetheart, your mother here wants to talk to you about something. Came from New York so before you ask, yes it is important."

"What?" She asked still glaring at her mom.

"Honey, I know you're almost 18-" her mother started but was interrupted.

"Oh, how nice of you to remember how old I was. Makes this so much better." Catherine said sarcastically. Her mother didn't seem fazed though and keep going.

"-and I know you are looking for colleges. Your father told me that you like writing." Her mom said.

Catherine nodded slowly and she continued.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come back to New York and work with me in my magazine company. You would go to college in New York as well and I could help you get an apartment."

Her mother smiled at her. "So?"

"So?" Catherine whispered, anger behind it. "So?! That's it! That's what you come over to ask me? Couldn't you just have asked me this over a phone call?"

Her mother looked taken aback from her outburst of anger but she continued.

"I haven't seen you in eleven years! No calls, no letters, nothing! Did you even get the drawings I sent you as a kid? For all I knew, you were probably dead!" Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes but Catherine refused to let them fall.

"All my life I thought it was my fault that you left! I thought you hated me. I went to school and I knew I was probably one of the few kids in the class with only a dad. You were never here when I needed you! I was so confused and scared when puberty hit and I only had dad to help. My dad! When I needed my mom!"

Her father and mother stared at her, silent.

"But now you want to leave my life here to go live with you?! What makes you think I'll say yes? There is no way I am leaving my home and nothing you can say can change that!"

And with that she turned around, running out of the house. Her dad screamed her name behind her but she just kept running.

 


	5. Something about the way you look tonight

The night was quiet with only the sound of her shoes against the pavement and her thoughts to keep her company on the empty streets.

Catherine sniffled as she walked, too tired to run anymore. She had no idea what street she was on and she didn't really care. As long as it was away from her house, she kept on walking.

Down the block, a man leaned against the wall, a cigarette in his mouth. The smoke he let out through his nose curled around his head.

She held her head down, avoiding the smoke as she walked passed the man. She knew she had to go back. Her dad was probably going to call the cops if she didn't. Plus she needed a place to sleep. And eat.

"Hey, babe. Where you off to?" She heard behind her. Catherine glanced behind her to look at the man she had passed and he still had the cigarette in his mouth but was now looking at her.

"Nowhere." She said sadly. The man nodded. He thew his cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his shoe.

She kept walking, her thoughts swirling in her head.

"Hey." The man behind her said. "You got a light? Mine won't start."

She turned to answer but her mouth was covered by his hand. Her scream was muffled by his glove and the man pulled her with him into an alleyway.

"Sshh." The man whispered to her. "It'll be so quick, you won't even remember it happened."

His hands started to feel her body as Catherine felt tears fall from her eyes, trying to scream but her mouth was still covered. Panic and fear filled her as she squirmed at his touch, trying to hit him. She managed to land a hard kick to his leg and he growled.

"Shit!" He gave her punch to her stomach and she gave a muffled cry from the pain. Regret washed over her like a wave as she wished she had turned around to go back home when the anger had left her. Or wishing that she hadn't run out of her house at all.

She wished her dad was here to help, to get her out of this horrible mess-

Her dad! She remembered something her dad taught her to do when she was little in case something like this ever happened. Her eyes went down to the hand that covered her mouth and she bit down on it.

The man gave a yelp and swore, taking back his hand. Catherine took the chance to let out a scream, for anyone to come help.

The moment was short lived though when the man grabbed her by her hair and pulled it, making her cry out in pain.

"You'll regret doing that." He gave her a punch in her jaw and tossed her to the ground. She tasted something metallic in her mouth and she whimpered. Blood.

She felt herself get lifted up again and she thought she heard footsteps from the end of the alleyway.

Catherine shut her eyes tight for what ever came next but she only fell to the ground. In surprise she opened her eyes again and saw the man getting hit by someone else. The other person landed a hit to the man's face and gave him a kick in the back, making him stumble. The man ran off, yelling swears at the new person and Catherine let out a shaky sigh of relief. She shut her eyes again as she tried to get up. Pain surged through her and she let out another cry.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't try getting up. Where did he hurt you?" The person asked her as he helped her sit back down.

She thought the voice sounded familiar as she answered. "He...he hit me in the stomach. And the jaw. Pulled my hair pretty hard too."

"Bastard." The person spat. Catherine felt the pain dull as she sat still and she opened her eyes. They widened when she saw who the person was.

"Stanley?" She said, her voice raspy from crying and screaming. He smiled at her, making her feel warm again.

"Hey you." He said softly. "What are you doing out so late? And alone?"

"At home..." She said, looking at the concrete. "My mom is there."

"Your mom?" He said, confused.

"Yeah. After 11 years, she finally decided to see me." Catherine muttered. "She wants me to go to New York with her for school."

Stanley gave her a hurt look and she smiled.

"I'm not going. There is no way I'm living with her." She said, frowning at the thought.

He laughs. The sound made her heart flutter.

"What are you doing out so late?" She said, asking him the same one he asked her.

"Oh! Just got out of boxing practice. I always walk this way home." He said, holding out a hand to her. "C'mon. Let's get go. It's getting latter by the second."

Catherine took his hand and he helped her get up to her feet. His hand was warm, making her want him to never let go. She grabbed her middle from the pain and sucked in a breath.

"Can you walk?" Stan asked, worry dripping off his words.

"I'm fine." She said, wincing slightly.

"How far is your house?" He asked as he held her by her waist to keep her steady.

"No!" She exclaimed. "I don't want to go back there. Not now anyway. Not after this happened."

"Ok." Stan nodded. "You can...stay at my house." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Really?" She felt her cheeks heat up and the thought of staying the night at his house was making her knees weaker than they already were.

"Yeah! I mean, where else are you gonna go?" He says, smirking knowing the answer.

"A-alright." She stuttered and they walked down the street, Stanley's hand never leaving her waist.

* * *

 

"Ma! I'm home!" Stanley announced when they walked through the door.

"Alright, sweetheart! Dinner is in the fridge!" A woman's voice called from a different room.

"Kay!" He answered and nodded his head at Catherine to follow him.

They went to his room and he dropped his bag full of his gear onto the floor.

"Where's Ford?" She asked looking confused.

"He's at the library. Working on his science project." Stan said. "Sit down on the bed. Where did you say that guy hit you?"

"In the stomach. And jaw." She told him, sitting down.

He didn't respond as she watched him rummage through his bag. He took out a small bottle and a roll of bandages.

"Lift your shirt up." He said as he bent down at her eye level.

"What?!" She squeaked. Her face turned red and she felt dizzy. "Why?"

"Because I want to check for bruises." Stan said, showing her the bandages. "I want to see if anything is broken."

"O-ok." Stuttering, she lifted her light green shirt up and sure enough, a large purple bruise was forming on her abdomen.

Stanley reached across and lightly touched her stomach making her flinch.

"Sorry. Does it hurt?" He asked, pulling his hand back.

"A little." She said quietly. He nodded and grabbed the small bottle and taking the cap off. From the bottle came out a white cream and Stan put a little on his hand.

"It might be cold." He said and gently rubbed it on her skin.

"What is that for?" She asked, gasping a little.

"To get rid of any swelling. I use it when I get any bad hits at practice." He then grabbed the bandages and started wrapping them around her middle.

"I don't think I needed bandages Stanley." She said, her face burning.

"I know. Nothing's broken but just in case." He muttered. He cut the bandage and taped it.

"There. Does your jaw hurt?" He asked looking up at her.

Catherine shook her head. She didn't think she could handle Stanley getting close to her face. She didn't think she would be able to stop herself from doing anything stupid.

"It's fine. Thank you."

"Sure." He smiled at her and sat down on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at the floor. The severity of what had happened to her finally hit her and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Her shoulders shook as the tears fell.

"Hey...you ok?" Stan asked as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Catherine let out a small whimper and sniffled as she tried not to cry but failing.

"Come here." Stanley said and she went into his arms, letting out all of her held up emotions. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed her back and hair.

She pulled back after a while, wiping her red eyes. "Sorry. The whole thing just hit me." She giggles weakly. "I got your shirt all wet."

"It's alright." He chuckles. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just needed to let that out." She gave him a smile which he returned. Then he did something she didn't expect. He reached over and put a stray piece of her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek.

She froze and stared at him, her eyes wide. Stan was silent for a while, the two only staring at each other. After a few minutes, he broke the silence.

"Can...can I?" He asked.

"Can you what?" She was confused. What was going on?

"Kiss you." He said.

Her breath stopped in her throat. She had no idea what to respond. Should she say no? Yes? She had no idea what to do!

Catherine had no control of what she was doing when she nodded. Her brain had shut off and her instincts were in charge.

They gap between them closed as his lips connected with hers. A shock of electricity shot through her as her eyes closed shut.

His lips were soft and gentle, as if he didn't want to hurt her by doing this. His thumb rubbed her cheek and his other hand was on her waist.

Catherine could not believe this was happening. Her thoughts were racing, her heart felt like it was going to explode. She never wanted this to end!

"Hey Stanley! I finally figured out how to make my machine work!" Ford said as he came bursting through the door. The two of them jumped at least a few feet away from each other when they heard his voice and their faces were extremely red.

"Wha-? What's going on?" Ford asked, holding his books to his chest and raising an eyebrow.

Stanley cleared his throat. "Nothing. Just uh..."

"I just got here! I'm going to be staying the night." Catherine said.

"Oh. Why is that?" Ford put his books down on his desk, still looking suspicious.

"My mom came from New York. She wants me to go live there with her." She told him, frowning at the reminder. "I got mad and left. Stan said I could stay here for the night. Is that alright?"

"Yeah. Of course." He looked over to Stan and grinned. "Guess your sleeping on the couch."

"What! No way! You're sleeping on the couch not me." He said, crossing his arms.

"It's fine guys. I'll take the couch." Catherine said laughing.

"No! You're our guest." Ford insisted. She smiled at him and shrugged.

"Alright. I'll take the floor. You guys still have your old sleeping bags?"

"Yeah. They're in the closet somewhere." Stan said, leaning against the bed frame.

"I'll use those. How's that?" She looked at Ford and he nodded.

"That's fine. I'll take them out." Ford walked over to their closest and started looking for them.

"Well I'm gonna get somethin' to eat. I'm starving." Stan said as he stretched and got off the bed. "You guys want anything?" He asked his brother and friend. Ford shook his head along with Catherine.

"Nah. I'm fine." Catherine said and he grinned at her.

"Yes you are." He winked at her and she laughed at his bad flirting.

After he left the room, Ford turned around and gave her a suspicious look.

"What was that about?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What? It was nothing."she said, hugging one the pillows to her chest.

"Not buying it. Try again." Ford said, crossing his arms.

She was quiet for a while. Ford sighed and went back to rummaging through the closet when he heard her talk again.

"He kissed me." She said quietly, a small smile on her face.

"He what?!" Ford exclaimed, taken off guard by what she said.

She shushed him but was still smiling. "Be quiet! He'll hear!" She said, her cheeks red. She smiled and hugged the pillow in her arms tighter, her face became one of a dreamy expression and Ford stared at her, his mouth open.

"He actually did it?" He said "Just now?"

"Yes. Why do you think we acted so awkward when you came in?" She raised an eyebrow at him and his face flushed.

"Oh. Right. That...was kinda obvious." He went back to looking through the closet as Catherine laid herself down on the bed. She shut her eyes, her lips still tingling from the kiss.

"Hey guys." Stan said as he came back into the room, half a sandwich in his hand. He took a bite and looked over at his brother.

"You find 'em yet?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled from the food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Stanley. And not yet."

Stanley blushed slightly, mumbling a sorry and swallowed. He hopped back onto the bed and pulled Catherine to his side, his hand on her waist. She blushed and gave him a shy smile. He returned it with a soft kiss on her head and turned back to his brother.

"Did you check on the top shelf? In the back?"

"No. There's just so much stuff in here." Ford said, grabbing a box near him and standing on top of it.

"Hey most of that is yours." Stan said, making Ford glance back to glare at him. Stan grinned at him and Ford chuckled, turning back to the closet.

After a few minutes Ford gives a small cheer. "Found them!"

He pulled them out, after a little struggle, and tossed them to the floor.

They got them all set up and Catherine lay down on top of them, grinning up at the twins.

"It'll be like when we were kids. Staying up all night and telling stories." She said, making them smile.

"I wish. I have to finish up my project and get it ready for next Thursday." Ford said sitting next to Stan on the bed.

"C'mon man! You can work on that tomorrow!" Stan said wrapping an arm around Ford's shoulder.

Catherine nodded eagerly and Ford gave a sigh of defeat.

"Alright." He said but was smiling.

Stan and Catherine both cheered in unison.

The three sat awake for hours after that, telling stories, making each other laugh and just enjoying each other's company.

When they finally managed to fall asleep, Catherine continued to stare at the ceiling. The thought of going back home tomorrow and having to face her mother kept her up. She turned onto her side and watched Stanley sleep, his chest rising with each breath. She smiled. She loved him. So much. She had no idea one person could mean so much to her. She shut her eyes, letting out a long sigh. There was no way her mother was going to make her leave. No way she was going to leave Stanley.


	6. In the morning rain

The sound of the pitter patter of light rain on the window made Ford slowly open his eyes. He yawned and with a groggy mind, he climbed down the bunk bed. He grabbed his glasses from the top of the dresser and slipped them on.

He blinked a few times to adjust his vision and was about to walk out of the room but his foot bumped something on the ground. Ford looked down confused and his eyes widened slightly.

Catherine lay on the floor on top of their old sleeping bags and was covered in a few blankets. Her hand was spread out to her side by the bed and Ford looked at the bed and found Stanley still asleep, his hand hanging off the side of the bed near hers. It looked like as if they had been holding hands.  
Stanford smirked and grabbed his alarm clock, turning it on and started counting down under his breath.

The alarm started to ring after a few seconds and his friends both jumped up in surprise. Stan sat up quickly and ended up hitting his head, a string of swears following it.

Ford laughed as Stan glared at him while rubbing his head.

"Ass." He muttered and got off the bed. Catherine got up and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"Your a jerk." She said to Ford who was still laughing. She tried not to smile but failed. He was still chuckling when he left the room and Stanley followed him, giving Catherine a kiss on the cheek before he left.

She blushed and raised a hand to her cheek. She still couldn't believe that this was real. Stanley had kissed her. And everything was still normal between them. Nothing awkward or him not wanting to be friends. She felt relieved about that and suddenly felt giddy. The boy she had liked since 5th grade had kissed her!

She was about to leave but looked down at her clothes. She frowned and an idea popped in her head.

* * *

 

"Ma and Pop still sleepin'?" Stanley asked quietly as he opened up the carton of milk from the fridge and took a swig from it.

Ford shrugged. "I guess. I haven't heard them get up yet. Still pretty early. "

Stan gives him a glare. "We should still be sleeping."

"Oh, shut up. If I don't wake you up, you could sleep through the day. Besides, you have to take Cath home. Her dad'll be pissed if she still isn't back." Ford says while taking the milk carton from Stanley and pouring some milk in a glass.

"Yeah." Stan mutters and stares at the floor. He didn't want her to leave that quickly. It has been a long time since she had slept over at their house and it had been fun. And also the fact that he had kissed her last night.

He had no idea what made him do that. It was just...she looked so sad at that moment and so goddamn pretty that he couldn't help himself.

The door to their room opening and closing snapped him out of his thoughts and he felt his jaw drop slightly when he saw Catherine walk into the kitchen in one of his t-shirts. The shirt was a big on her and it went to her thighs. Her hair was still a little messy but he would be lying if he were to say he didn't think she looked really sexy like that.

"Sorry. I don't like wearing the same clothes twice. Makes me feel unclean. So I borrowed one of yours. Is that fine?" She asked him as she hugged herself in a sort of embarrassed manner.

"Uhhh....yeah. T-that's f-fine." Stan stuttered as he kept staring at her. She smiled at him and he felt his face get hot, making Stanford nudge an elbow into his side, finally bringing back to earth.

He stuttered a bit before he was able to talk properly again. "Um...we should probably get you home. Your dad's bound to be worried. And pissed."

"Yeah you're right." She said disappointed. "We better get going then."

Stanley nodded and went to get his jacket while she said goodbye to Ford.

"I'll see you at school then." She said as she hugged him. He returned it with a smile.

"I'll try not to puke when I see you with Stan."

This made her laugh and gave him a punch on the shoulder. She left and found Stan waiting at the front door.

"Alright let's go." She said and the two walked out into the cool dawn of the morning.

* * *

 

"So what are you gonna do? Your mom is probably still at home." Stanley asked, looking over at Catherine.

The streets around them were empty, a lot of people still sleeping.

"I don't know. I kinda don't want to go back. I don't want to have to actually talk to her." She said, frowning. She rubbed her arms from the slight chill and tried to suppress a shiver.

"Are you cold?" Stanley asked and she shook her head.

"No I'm fine." But mentally cursed herself when she shivered. Stan rolled his eyes but took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders.

"But...aren't you going to be cold?" She asked as she blushed. The jacket was warm and she felt the surprisingly soft fabric between her fingers as she gripped it.

"Nah. I'll be fine. I don't want you to get sick." He didn't look at her, his face red.

Rain drizzled down slightly as they continued to walk in silence. After a while Stan spoke up again.

"I really like it when the weather is like this." He said looking at the light grey sky.

"Hmm?" Catherine looked at him as she felt the light rain hit her head.

"I like it when it rains like this. It's not so hard that you need an umbrella but light enough to feel it. It's nice." Stan said with a small smile.

Catherine grinned and put her arm around his, her head leaning on his shoulder. "You're so cute."

Stanley cleared his throat in embarrassment but didn't object to it.

They walked like that until they reached Catherine's house. When they got to the door, she raised a hand to knock but Stanley stopped her.

"What is it?" She asked

"I...your dad..he'll...you know he's never liked me." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"It's alright. I don't think he'll be mad at you. You're not the one who ran off in the middle of the night." She said bitterly as she stared at her shoes.

Stan smiled. "Well then he'll be like pissed at the both of us."

She looked up at him and smiled back as she knocked on the door.

It quickly opened and her dad's tired looking face appeared in front of her.

"Catherine! Oh thank goodness your alright! Your mother and I were worried sick...." He faded off when he noticed Stanley standing next to her, a sheepish looking grin on his face.

"Hello Mr. Davis." He said quietly. The frown her father gave him made him shrink back but before her dad could say anything to him, Catherine stepped in front of Stanley.

"Dad, it's fine. Stanley let me stay the night at his house 'cause it was late." She didn't mention the incident that had caused Stan to find her.

Her father didn't stop glaring at Stanley but didn't say anything to him.

"Fine. Well say goodbye and come inside. You aren't getting out of having that little talk we need to have." He said sternly. She looked down at her shoes and nodded. Her dad closed the door and Stanley let out a breath. He looked over to his friend and noticed that she was still staring at her shoes.

"You ok?" He asked and he reached out to touch her arm. He was caught off guard when she threw her arms around his neck and nearly knocked him off his feet by the force of her kiss.

His eyes were wide but they closed soon after, his arms wrapping around her waist. His lips moved over hers as she threaded her fingers through his hair.  
This kiss took a lot longer than first one, with no interruptions. His hands never moved from her waist, remembering that this was his best friend and not just some other girl. His senses were on overload and he eventually had to separate from her to breathe.

The two were out of breath and their faces were flushed. She grinned after a few seconds and Stan chuckled.

"Well that was interesting." He said with a grin as Catherine giggled.

They heard her dad call from inside the house and they separated completely.

"Better get inside." She said, her eyes twinkling in happiness as she looked at Stan. He nodded and stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets.

"I have to get home too. Dad's probably awake by now. He likes to open the shop early. It's my turn to help him run it." Stanley said. "So I guess I'll see you at school."

"Yeah." Catherine nodded and she opened the door. She stopped as she was going to enter and turned around again. She took off his jacket that was around her shoulders and handed it to him.

"Thanks for that. It was really sweet of you." She said. He took it and felt his face get red.

"Yeah. No problem." He bent down slightly and kissed her softly. "For luck. When you talk to your mom." He said with a smile when he stepped back. She blushed but smiled back at him. She opened the door and gave him a small wave before stepping inside and closing the door with a click.

He let out a sigh as he stared at the door. He felt....really weird. He felt really light and like he could do anything. He grinned and slipped his jacket back on, hopping down the stairs to her house and walked back to his house. Nothing could bring him down from this high. Not even his dad yelling at him for leaving the house and being late for work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the filler chapter. The more emotional stuff is coming and am nearing the end of my story. Stay tuned!


	7. Maybe I'm Amazed

"Are you sure you couldn't find anyone else to go with?" Catherine's dad asked his daughter as she finished putting on her earrings. She was getting ready to go to her school prom and she frowned when he asked the same question for the third time that night. 

"Dad, again, a lot of boys asked me but I didn't want to go with them. I wanted to go with Stan and Ford. They're my friends."

"Yes, I know but..." He hesitated. 

"But what?" She turned to him and crossed her arms.

"Well, you know I've never liked those boys. Especially Stan." He looked her in the eye and she glared back. 

"Why? What is your problem with him? He has done nothing to you and has never hurt me in anyway. For god sakes he even got beat up in 8th grade for sticking up for me when the other boys would bully me!" She said angrily while she never broke eye contact with her father.

"He is no good! His brother at least has a future. Stanford is very smart, him I don't have a problem with. But Stan has no chance of getting a decent job or even finishing high school! I don't want you around someone who will just be a bad influence for you and hold you back!" Her father said just as angry. 

"Hold me back?! He's my friend! If anything, he's going to encourage me to do my best." Her patience had snapped when he had said those things and she couldn't keep her emotions in.

"He has to live with his own dad telling him that every day! That his brother is way better than him! He even knows he wasn't even planned!" She knew these were things that maybe Stanley didn't want her dad to know but she had no idea how else to get him to understand. 

"Stan knows he isn't as smart as his brother and he knows he may not get as far with school but damn it he tries!" Her arms were at her sides now, her hands held in fists. "He tries harder than anyone I know and that's good enough for me. I've known him for five years and he is the most amazing person I've ever met. He is my best friend and nothing you say will change that."

Catherine could feel her face burning and her eyes flickered over to her mirror. She saw she was shaking slightly and looked back at her father. 

He was very quiet, his eyes examining her face.

"You're in love with him." He said simply. When Catherine tried to answer, she only stammered out measly I's and uh's. 

A car horn outside broke the awkward silence that had been between them and she looked down at the floor, quickly walking out of her room.

Her heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour. It froze suddenly the moment she felt her dad's hand grab her arm. 

"What?" She said, not turning around.

"You...you really love him?" She heard her father ask in barely a whisper. She hesitated before nodding. 

"Well then.....from now on, I'll keep my mouth shut."

She didn't say anything and she felt her dad let go of her arm. Catherine left her house and the warm summer night air hit her skin. She heard a honk come from the red convertible in front of her house and she smiled when she saw Stan wave from the driver's window. 

Catherine smoothed out her light purple dress and walked over to the car.

Ford got out of the passengers seat and grinned at her. 

"Hey." She said and walked around the front of the car to give him a hug.

"Hey." He said back and as she got into the front seat, Ford moved to the back. 

"You ready?" Stan asked once both of them were in the car and the two doors were closed.

"Yep!" She said happily and Stan smiled, stepping on the gas and driving to the school.

* * *

 

"C'mon Ford! You gotta at least try!" Stan said pushing his brother forewords as Catherine giggled beside them. 

"Stan just leave him alone! If he doesn't want to talk to her, he doesn't have to." She said with a grin. She herself wanted him to talk to the girl he liked but she wasn't going to force him. That was Stanley's job.

"He has to at least try!" Stan said grinning mischievously. 

"Stanley don't! I can't! I have no idea what to say to her." Ford said, trying to protest.

"You're smart! You'll figure somethin' out." Stanley said. 

They reached the girl Stan was talking about and she looked at Ford with a confused expression. He stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck, nervousness taking over.

"Stanley, I don't think just throwing him into a situation like this was a good idea." Catherine said as she watched Ford laugh, embarrassed, and say something to the girl. 

She didn't know her that well. She was in her biology class. Her name was something like Cindy or Christy or something with a C.

"He'll be fine." Stan said, waving it off. He had a confident look on his face and she rolled her eyes. 

He looked over to his brother and swore just as he saw the girl frown and throw her drink in his face.

"Shit. Come on." He said and they walked back over to Ford who looked disappointed as his face and shoulders were completely soaked. 

Stan put a hand on his shoulder as he chuckled. "Aw cheer up man, forget her. Here look." He said as he grabbed Ford cup and dumped the drink on his own head, now matching his brother.

"Now we're even." He said. Ford chuckled but shook his head. 

"Not quite." He said and he looked at Catherine with a devious look.

"Don't even think about it!" She protested but Stan grinned at Ford and nodded, understanding what he was thinking and dropped his own drink on her head, soaking her as well. 

"Now we're all even." Ford said trying to keep from laughing.

Catherine glared at the both of them but when they laughed she couldn't help but laugh with them. They looked ridiculous now.

She grinned at them. "Fine. But now you two owe me a dance each. I don't think I can stay here for long like this." She looked down at her dress and chuckled. 

"Fair enough." Ford said and held out a hand. "Shall we?" He said playfully and she laughed as she took his hand.

She spent the whole dance giggling as Ford tried to dance without stepping on her feet or tripping on his own feet. 

Ford handed her off to Stan when the current song that had been playing finished and with some complaints, Catherine managed to drag Stan along with her.

She put her arms around his neck as he set his hands on her waist. The song was slow as they swayed along with it. 

She put her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh as the music played in the background.

_Wise men say_

_Only fools rush in_

_But I can't help falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay_

_Would it be a sin_

_If I can't help falling in love with you_

_Like a river flows_

_Surely to the sea_

_Darling so it goes_

_Some things are meant to be_

_Take my hand,_

_Take my whole life too_

__For I can't help falling in love with you_ _

"You ok?" She heard Stanley ask and she smiled. 

"Yeah. I'm just...really happy right now."

She felt her heart melt when he kissed the top of her head gently. They continued like that until the song finished and they separated, a small pang of disappointment going through the both of them. 

"Alright then. Let's get going." Ford said when they walked back over to him.

"Ma is gonna be pissed when we get home looking like this though." Stan said with a grin. Ford groaned and Stan chuckled as he put his arm around Ford's shoulders and his other arm around Catherine's waist as they walked out of the school.

* * *

 

"Stan, can I ask a favor?" Catherine said quietly when they had reached her house. 

"Sure. What is it?" He asked curiously.

"Can you come with me inside just to talk to my dad?" She asked and he looked at her, a nervous expression on his face. 

"You sure? Won't he, you know, kick me out?" Stan said and from the back, Ford scoffed.

"Just go. You're gonna have to talk to him eventually." Ford said, impatient. 

"Alright. Can I ask why?" Stan said and Catherine looked down at her hands.

"Well me and him had a sort of argument before you picked me up." She said quietly. 

"What about?" He asked and she sighed.

"You." 

Stanley raised an eyebrow in surprise and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok. Let's go then." 

The two got out but not before Ford called out to his brother.

"Stan, don't take long. These clothes are getting kinda sticky." He grimaced when he pulled at his collar. 

Stan smirked but nodded and followed Catherine to her house.

She took out her key and they entered the house. 

"Dad, I'm back." She called and rubbed her arms nervously. Stan noticed and grabbed her hand, giving her a smile when she looked over to him.

"Oh good, your mother just got..." Her father said as he came walking into the living room but faded off when he saw Stanley. "...here." He finished quietly. 

"Mom's here?" Catherine said and she squeezed Stan's hand, needing some support and he squeezed back knowingly.

"Yes." Her father said simply and he walked up to Stanley, not breaking eye contact with him. 

"Sir, I..." Stanley started but he cut him off when he raised a hand.

"Don't. It's...it's fine." He looked down at their connected hands and back up at Stan. "I don't like this but if you make her happy then fine. I won't say anything." 

Stanley only gaped at him, completely thrown off by what he had just said.

"I...well...uh...t-thanks. Sir." Stan said. 

"Dan, is Catherine back? I heard talking." A woman entered the room and Catherine frowned. Her father turned around and faced his ex-wife.

"Jocelyn, this is-" he started to say but she seemed to figure out who Stanley was quickly and cut him off. 

"Catherine's boyfriend?" She asked and he nodded.

She walked up to Stan and looked him up and down. 

"Um...Stanley Pines, ma'm." Stan said as he stuck out a hand to shake hers.

She shook it and looked at her daughter. 

"Oh, sweetheart, you can do so much better." She said and Catherine glared at her.

"So could have dad." She said. Her mother ignored that comment and kept talking. 

"Anyway, your father and I were discussing the whole you coming back to New York with me and we agreed that you could stay here until you were done with High School."

Catherine felt her anger fade and she felt herself smile. 

"Really?" Her happiness showing in her words. 

"Yes. You finish in about a year so I figured why not." She shrugged and Catherine felt her heart swell.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed. 

At the sound of a car horn outside, Stan chuckled and turned to Catherine.

"That outta be Ford. I better get going then." He kissed her forehead and nodded to her parents. 

"It was nice meeting you." He said to Catherine's mother and then looked at her father.

"Thank you again. I'll treat her right, sir, don't worry." 

Her father nodded and Stan then smiled at Catherine.

"I'll see you at school then." 

"Okay." She said with a smile. "Say good night to Ford for me."

He nodded and walked out of the house. 

"You really could do better, mi amor." Her mother said after he left.

Catherine felt her anger come back. 

"Well I think he is perfect." She said and stormed off to her room, slamming the door.

She growled as she sat down onto her bed with a huff. 

Catherine looked down at her dress and felt her anger melt.

She smiled when she thought back on what had happened at her prom. A warm feeling grew in her and she hugged herself. 

She was going to stay. Not for as long as she had wanted but just enough so that she was able to have more time with Stan and Ford. They weren't going to be separated. She laughed a little to herself for thinking there even was a chance of their little group being torn apart.

Catherine went to sleep with the happy thought that nothing could separate any of them. Nothing ever would.


	8. I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Ford stood by his perpetual motion machine nervously as he played with the cuffs of his button up shirt.

He was waiting for the results of the science fair and though he was confident at first that he would win, but now he wasn't so sure.

There were other projects that seemed very well done and to him, seemed way better than his.

"Hey sixer. You get the trophy yet?" Stanley said as he walked over to his brother and stuffed a handful of toffee peanuts into his mouth.

"Stanley! Don't say that! You don't know if I will win or not." Ford said, his eyes moving around the room.

"What? You think you won't win? Don't be stupid point-dexter." Stan scoffed and leaned on the table behind him.

Ford rolled his eyes but his nervousness came back full storm when the judges walked over to him, staring at their clipboard.

"Shh! Stanley shut up for a minute." Ford said quickly and straightened his shirt. Stan had glared at him but he didn't notice.

"Are you Stanford Pines?" One of the judges asked him as she looked up from the clipboard.

"Yes." He said. He held his hands behind his back as he waited.

The judge smiled at him. "Well, congratulations. Your project was the most amazing we've ever seen. Very well done." She said and took out the trophy, handing it to him.

"T-Thanks." He stuttered out. He gazed at the award in awe and felt a feeling of accomplishment wash over him.

"I told you you could do it!" Stan said as he threw an arm around Ford's shoulder and grinned. Stan ruffled up his brothers hair and Ford chuckled.

"Alright, alright. Thanks." He said as he grinned.

* * *

 

"Wow." Catherine said as she stared at the award, the gold glittering in her eyes.

"I know." Ford said, feeling extremely proud.

"I told you he would win. He always does." Stanley said as he leaned on his locker.

"This is so awesome Ford." She said as she smiled.

The 5th period bell rung in the hallway and both Stan and Catherine groaned as Ford grinned.

"Fuck, me and Ford gotta go to history." Stan said with a frown.

"I got gym." Catherine said and she shifted her book bag from her right shoulder to her left.

"Well then we'll see you at lunch then?" Stan asked and she nodded.

"Congrats again Ford." She said, giving him a hug.

"Thanks." He replied and looked to his brother. "Did you finish the essay we needed to have?"

Stan paled a little and Ford sighed.

"I'll see what I can get done."

Stan grinned at his brother and picked up his book bag.

"Thanks man. Alright, let's go. Don't wanna be late."

He leaned over and gave Catherine a kiss on the cheek as she giggled. Ford rolled his eyes but smiled none the less.

"C'mon. I want to have at least some time to write your essay." Ford said as Stan nodded and the three went their separate ways.

* * *

Stan and Ford sat in their seats as the history teacher droned on about the Union and labor movement. Ford was hunched over his desk as his pencil moved none stop on the piece of paper he had on his desk while Stan sat with his feet on his desk and looked extremely bored. They both looked up though when the intercom came to life in the room.

"Pines twins to the principals office, please. Pines twins to the principles office."

Stan frowned and took his feet off his desk.

"Ah great! What is it this time?" He said annoyed.

Ford shrugged and they both got up, Stan slightly thankful he had an excuse to leave. If he had been in that class any longer he would have fallen asleep.

They stepped into the main office but before they could both go into the principals office, the secretary in front stopped them.

"Not you." She said, pointing at Stan. She then pointed at Ford and nodded. "Him."

Stan frowned and slumped into one of the seats by the door and crossed his arms.

Ford began to feel slightly nervous. Why would they want him and not Stan? What did he do? A million thoughts ran threw his head as he opened the door and found his parents inside with the principle.

He cautiously went over to the chair in between his parents and sat down.

The principal folded his hands and leaned forward.

"Now, Mr. Pines, I'd like to speak with you very frankly if I may."

"Frankly is the only way I speak." Filbrick Pines answered, showing no emotion.

"You have two sons." The principal continued. "One of them is incredibly gifted. The other is standing outside this room and is named Stanley."

Ford felt a wave of guilt rush through him as he thought over the mans words. I mean, he knew he wasn't smart but Stanley was good at some things. Right?

"What are you saying?" Ford's mother asked, as if almost thinking the same thing as Ford.

"I'm saying your son Stanford is a genius!" His principal stood up and grinned. "All of his teachers are going bananas over his science fair experiment."

He reached down and grabbed a pamphlet, handing it to Ford.

"You ever heard of West Coast Tech? Best college in the country."

Ford's eyes widened as he read the pamphlet and his mother and father leaned in to read it as well.

"Their graduates turn science fiction into science fact!" The principal said and Ford couldn't believe what he was hearing. Best school in the country? Science? His eyes skimmed over the words on the paper in his hands and a grin grew on his face.

"The college board are visiting tomorrow to look at Stanford's experiment." The principal said as he sat down. He looked over to Filbrick and smiled.

"Your son may be a future millionaire Mr. Pines."

At the sound of money, Filbrick's attention was caught and smiled.

"I'm impressed." He said and Ford's head shot around to look at him.

Ford thought he was dreaming! His dad impressed?! He was never impressed with anything! But now he was! With him!

His mom though had a different reaction.

"But what about our free-spirit Stanley?" She said, a sad and worried expression on her face.

The principal raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "That clown? At this rate, he'll be lucky to graduate high school."

Ford felt like he was cut wth a knife. Stanley not finish high school? He knew he wasn't that bright but he wasn't that stupid. Plus, Catherine would still- oh wait.

The reminder that she too was going back to New York for college made the high he had been on fade away and fill with guilt. Stan would be alone. Surely Stanley could get by alone, right? He had such a way with people and convincing them that surely he could find a decent job. The principal kept talking but he had stopped listening, his thoughts only on his brother.

* * *

Stanley sank to the ground with his back against the door.

College. West coast. Millionaire. Of course Stanford would be offered this. He should have expected this but.....

It was all coming too soon for him. First Catherine and now his own brother. He was going to be left completely and utterly alone.

Was he really that useless? Had his dad always been right? Catherine was constantly telling him not to listen but now it seemed like everything everyone had said about him was true and now it was causing his world to crash around him.

A few more minutes passed as Stan stared blankly at the ground, feeling empty and a slow depression creeping up on him until the office door opened and out walked Ford and his parents. His father paid him no attention but his mother gave a small wave and he smiled weakly back.

"Hey." Ford said awkwardly when Stan stood up.

He grunted in response and looked down at his hands that held a pamphlet.

"What's that?" He asked, acting as if he hadn't just been ease dropping on what the principal had told him.

"Oh this!" Ford's eyes brightened and Stan felt his heart drop. His eyes never got like that when hey talked about the Stan o' War.

"It's about this really cool college!" Ford started to explain but Stan didn't hear him. He could only feel a dark depression wrap it's claw around him tightly.

* * *

"That sounds so amazing!" Catherine said after Ford had told her everything. The three of them were sitting at the old swing set on the beach shore. She sat in between them on the sand and handed the same pamphlet back to Ford.

"I know. I couldn't believe it when they told me." Ford said almost sounding as if he were in the clouds.

Stan scoffed and laughed. "Ha! Jokes on them if they think you're going to some stuffy college on the other side of the country."

Both Ford and Catherine looked over at Stan as he continued.

"Once we get the Stan o' War complete, it's gonna be international fame and treasure hunting for the three of us."

Ford gave him a sort of disappointed look and he sighed.

"Look, Stanley, I can't pass up a chance like this. This school has cutting edge programs and multi-dimension paradyme theory."

Ford tried to make him understand how amazing this chance was but Stan didn't want to. Instead he only frowned.

"Be-boop. I am a nerd robot." He said, moving his arms like a machine would. He looked over at Ford, the frown still on his face. "That's you. That's what you sound like."

Ford shook his head slowly and chuckled. "Oh well," he looked up at Stan and it seemed like he was disappointed with how Stanley reacted.

He sucked in a breath and continued.

"If the college board isn't impressed with my experiment tomorrow then ok I'll do the treasure hunting thing."

A little bit of hope appeared in Stan's eyes and he asked softly.

"And if they are?"

Ford grinned and gave Stan a punch in the shoulder.

"Well then I guess you'll have to come visit me on the other side of the country." He said with a laugh.

Stan grinned and Ford stood up off the swing.

"See you guys."

Catherine gave a wave and he walked away. Stan's grin fell immediately after Ford left.

"You ok?" Catherine asked. And Stan finally let out all the emotions he had been swallowing.

"Why would he do this? He's going to just leave me here all alone! What am I going to do? I'm nothing without him! I'm like half of a dynamic duo without him." He felt the corner of his eyes prickle with on coming tears but he blinked them away.

"Stan, I..." Catherine tried but he kept going.

"And then you're going away in a year too. I don't know if I can handle all this. Dad was right. I am useless. My whole world is falling apart just because I can't live without you guys." His shoulders slumped forwards.

"Stan I'm not going away." Catherine said which caused Stan to look over at her in surprise.

"Wait what?" He squeaked out. His voice had gone up an octave from the surprise.

"I'm not going to New York." She repeated. "I don't want to go. It's a great opportunity sure, but honestly, I love it here."

She sat down on the swing next to Stan and ran a hand through her hair. "It may sound weird but I do love it here. It's where I grew up. It's my home." She turned to him and smiled. "It's where I met you."

Stan stared at her for a few minutes. She wasn't going to leave? For him?

"I would rather stay here in some boring job and still be with you then go to New York with my mom and be miserable." Catherine said. "Besides, someone's gotta help you finish the Stan o' War right?"

Stanley smiled. "You're perfect."

She laughed but still blushed. "Shut up." She shoved his shoulder slightly and they laughed.

He leaned over and cupped her cheek, pulling her to him. He softly pressed his lips against hers with a smile and he felt her let out a small sigh.

As they kissed, it seemed like they were the only people in the world at the moment. Completely forgetting about Ford and his project. Not knowing that this would be the last normal moment of their lives.


	9. Ship to Wreck

A fast knocking made Catherine look up from the black and white piano keys. She turned her head towards the front door and with a sigh, stood up and walked over to it. She opened the door, a slightly annoyed look on her face but it fell when she saw who it was. 

"Stanley!" she said surprised. Stan grinned at her and she threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He lifted her up a little as he chuckled, hugging her back. 

"Hi." he said and set her back on her feet. 

"What are you doing here?" Catherine asked and a panicked look crossed his face for a millisecond before it disappeared.

"Oh, I just got back from school. Had to stay after school and clean the science room after I spilled something onto the floor." He answered. Catherine saw a worried glint in his eyes but ignored it. 

 _It's probably nothing_ she thought and smiled. "Ok. Wanna come in? Dad's working and mom's staying at a hotel until she heads back to New York." 

"Sure." Stan says and he steps inside, Catherine closing the door behind her. 

"What were you doing 'fore I got here?" he asks as he plops himself down on the couch. 

"I was just practicing." Catherine says as she points at the dark brown piano. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. 

"You play?" he asked and she nodded. "How come I've never seen you play?" 

"Well, I don't really like to play that much. My mom made me learn when I was about five. I hated it so I don't really have many fond memories of playing this." Catherine sat back down on the bench and touched the keys softly. "I play it every once in a while when I have nothing else to do." 

Stan got up and sat next to her. "Can you play something?" 

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and looked quickly back down. "I don't know. I'm not that good..." 

"It's fine. I'm sure you sound great." He said. Stanley smiled at her and she felt herself blush. After weeks of them being together, he still made her feel all tingly and blush like crazy. 

"O-Ok." she looked down at the keys and began to move her fingers over the keys. Music flowed out of the piano and Stanley stared in awe. 

"Baby, if I made you mad for something I might have said, please, let's forget the past, the future looks bright ahead. Don't be cruel to a heart that's true. I don't want no other love, baby it's just you I'm thinking of." Catherine murmured under her breath as she played. 

Stan grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Don't stop thinking of me, don't make me feel this way. Come on over here and love me, you know what I want you to say. Don't be cruel to a heart that's true. Why should we be apart? I really love you baby, cross my heart."

He sang along which caused her to look up. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, making her slip her fingers and stop playing. She muttered a curse as she blushed furiously and Stanley laughed. 

"Jerk. You made me mess up." she said as she pushed him. He laughed harder and she grinned at him. 

"Ok, ok, sorry." Stan said as he calmed down. "But that was really good! You should really play more often. It sounds nice." he praised and then smirked. "Your singing ain't have bad either." 

Catherine looked away as her face had become ten times more red. "Shut up." she mumbled and he smiled. 

"Aw, c'mon. Keep playing." he nudged her shoulder and she turned back to look at him. She grinned and her eyes sparkled. 

"You try!" she said happily and his smile fell. 

"Oh no, no, no. I don't think... I don't really...." Stan stuttered but she grasped his hands. 

"Please! Please Stanley! For me!" she said excitedly "Look, I'll teach you!" 

He sighed and let her put his hands onto the smooth keys. "Ok, what song are you gonna make me destroy with my horrible piano skills." he said. 

"Don't say that. You haven't even started yet." Catherine grabbed the sheet music book on top of the piano and skimmed through it. She let out a soft gasp as she found the song she wanted and set the music in front of them. 

"Alright. Put your hands on these keys." she said, grabbing his hands again. He went along with her directions, a small smile on his lips. 

"Now, I want you to play them like this..." she trailed off as she showed him how to play the certain keys. She finished explaining and he muttered an 'ok' showing he understood. She moved back to her side and placed her hands on the chords she would play. 

"You ready?" She asked and he nodded, though somewhat hesitantly. She flashed him a grin and nudged him to start playing. He stumbled a bit in the beginning but got the hang of it after a few tries and a few swears. She joined in after a few minutes and started to quietly sing under her breath. 

"Earth Angel, earth Angel, will you be mine? My darling dear, love you all the time. I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you." she sang softly. Stan glanced over to her and felt his heart speed up. 

A few locks of her brown hair had gotten loose of her pony tail and they framed her face. A small smile was on her lips as she sang and unlike his, her fingers moved gracefully on the keys. 

"Earth Angel, earth Angel, will you be mine? My darling dear, love you all the time. I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you." Catherine continued, glancing up at Stan when she felt him staring. 

Her green eyes met his brown and they stared at each other. 

"I fell for you and I knew the vision of your love, loveliness. I hope and I pray that someday I'll be the vision of your hap, happiness." she whispered. Without knowing, they moved closer together and pretty soon, they were inches apart and the music had stopped playing. 

"How'd I do?" Stan asked so quietly, he thought he hadn't talked at all. 

"Fine. Just fine." Catherine said simply as she closed the gap between them.

Her brain exploded as his lips met hers and she felt his hands move to wrap around her waist.  

He started out slow, but when he felt her hands slide into his hair, the side of him that had been holding back backed off and he kissed her with so much passion and want, that he thought he would drown her and himself. 

His hands moved up to her shoulders and hair, as his fingers untied the blue ribbon that held her pony tail up. 

She tangled her fingers of one hand in his short hair and moved the other down to his chest as she let out a soft moan. She had never felt anything like this ever. So many emotions were swirling in her that she felt dizzy and lightheaded. Or maybe it was the lack of air she was getting. 

Catherine moved away from Stan and they both finally were able to breathe. But just a few seconds later, Stan had moved back forwards and moved from her lips to her neck. 

She let out a small gasp of surprise, but soon shut her eyes from the new and amazing feeling that filled her. 

"Stan..." she was able to gasp out. She had lost her ability to speak the moment his lips touched hers. 

Stanley moved his hands back to her waist and they slowly started to lift up her shirt but the sound of the jingling of keys outside the front door made them both freeze and separate as if they had both heard a gunshot right by their ears.

"Hi honey. I'm home." Catherine's dad said as he entered the house and took a few steps into the living room until he stopped and noticed that Stanley was sitting next to his daughter at the piano. 

"Dad!" Catherine said as they both stood up quickly. When Stan stood up, the bench fell down with a bang. He flinched and muttering something under his breath, lifted the bench back up and set it under the piano. Catherine let out a giggle but remembered that her dad was still in the room so she cleared her throat and looked back up at him. 

"Hi dad." she said and he looked between them with a suspicious glint in his eyes. "We were just... I mean, I was just..." 

"I know, I know, just...." he didn't finish as he only sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked out of the room and walked up the stairs to his bedroom. 

"Damn. That was tense." Stan said when her dad was out of ear shot. "I guess I better get home." 

"Yeah." Catherine said as she moved to fix her hair. Stan reached up and stopped her before she could tie it up though and she raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Don't. It looks nice like this." Stan said and she smiled as she lowered her hands.

She walked him to the door and they stood on the porch. Catherine stood up on her tip toes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. 

"Goodnight Stanley." she said with a smile and he smiled back. 

Stan grabbed her before she could move away and kissed her on the lips. 

"Goodnight. My earth angel." he said and she giggled. 

"That was so cheesy." she said and he shrugged. "But you made it work somehow." 

Stan laughed and gave her a small bow. "I guess I'll see you later." he said in an overdramatic accent. He walked down the stairs and gave her a wave. 

Catherine smiled even after he had left. 

* * *

The glow of the tv screen hit Stan's face as he watched the show, his head hanging upside down. He swung his ball and paddle up and down as he counted. 

"One paddle paddle. Two paddle paddle." he said and he grinned as he watched the screen. "Man that Jackie o'! What a fox!" he looked up and sat up correctly when the door opened and Ford stormed in. Stan took no notice of his anger that radiated off of him. "Hey, what's the word sixer?"

Ford glared daggers at his brother. He had never felt so angry in his life. "Can you explain what _this_ was doing next to my broken project?!" he said as he lifted up a empty bag of toffee peanuts that he held in an almost death grip in a fist.

Stan looked at the bag and felt his heartbeat quicken. How did he forget that? He thought he had left no evidence. No, no, no, everything was falling apart. He shook off the panic that had filled in him and shrugged at his brother. 

"Ok. I might have accidentally have horsing around…" Stan started to say but Ford growled and interrupted him.

"This was no accident, Stan! You did this!" he pointed accusingly. He had a fire burning in him and all logical thought had left him. Sure he hadn't asked Stanley why or had given a chance to finish his side but right now he didn't give a damn of his side. Right now, he could only see red. 

"You did this because you couldn’t handle me going to college on my own!" Ford yelled. 

Stanley felt as if he had stabbed him with a knife. He felt like falling to his knees and begging him to not be angry and to forgive him. He felt like crying. But he only shook his head and tried to talk to him. 

"Look, it was a mistake!" he said, holding his hands up in defense. He looked at Ford and smiled despite the feeling of panic in him. "Although, if you think about it, maybe there’s a silver lining." he said as he grinned, trying to calm Ford down. "Huh? Treasure hunting?"

Ford only gave him a disbelieving look. He chocked on his words before he was able to talk. 

"Are you kidding me?!" he yelled. "Why would I want to do anything with the person who sabotaged my entire future!!" he pushed Stan away, making him fall back on the couch. Stan gave him a hurt look for a minute till it turned into one of anger but before he could say anything back, his dad came over and pulled him up by his shirt collar. A look of pure fear appeared on his face as his dad glared at him.

"You did what, you knucklehead?!" Filbrick growled at him. His mother stood at the door way of the kitchen and had a worried expression on her features. 

"Stanley? What’s going on in here?" she asked but they paid her no attention as Stan put up his hands and shook his head frantically as he tried to reason with his father. 

"Wait! No! I can explain! It was a mistake!" he cried. He thought his heart would stop because of how fast it was beating. He was, for the first time in his life, absolutely terrified. 

His father only scowled at him and dragged him out of the living room. Stanley screamed and protested but Filbrick ignored him. He opened the front door and tossed him out onto the side walk. 

"You ignoramis!" he scowled. "Your brother was gonna be our ticket outta this dump!" Filbrick pointed an accusing finger at him like Ford had done upstairs. Stanley thought he would never be more afraid of such a normal gesture.

"All you ever do is lie and cheat and ride on your brother’s coat tails." Filbrick said and Stan could feel tears start to form in his eyes. He didn't let them fall though. He didn't want to give his father that satisfaction. 

"Well this time, you cost our family potential millions!" Filbrick screamed. "And until you make us a fortune, you’re not welcome in this household!" he tossed a bag at Stan. Stanley catched it and stared up at his father in shock and fear. 

"What?!" He looked over at the second story window and saw Stanford watching. "Stanford, tell ‘em their being crazy!" 

Ford looked at him with a hurt and pained expression. He shut his eyes tight and bowed his head as he shut the blinds to the window. 

Stanley had never felt as much pain as he did in that one moment. His heart broke into a million pieces and he couldn't feel anything but sadness. "Stanford?" he raised his hand slowly as he stood up, trying desperately not to break into a sob. " Don’t leave me hanging. High six?" 

He looked back at his father as he slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Stan stared at the door with so much pain, he thought he would fall back down but he balled up his hands into fists and clutched them at his side. His pained look turned into one of hatred. 

"Fine! I can make it on my own!" He walked over to his car while still yelling at his former home. "I don’t need you! I don’t need anyone!" Stan walked around to the drivers side of his car and opened the door. "I’ll make millions, and you’ll rue the day you turned your back on me!" he got into the car and slammed the door. 

He started the car and slammed his foot on the gas, driving away from his house, not without knocking down one or two trash cans in the process. 

Stan gripped the steering wheel as he stared on the road ahead. He glanced back though and felt himself leave  part of his life back there. Stan turned back to face forwards and finally felt the hot, wet, and salty tears flow down his cheeks. 


	10. How To Save A Life

He sat there in his car, only staring longingly at the window of the house. He saw her move around in her room through the curtain and sighed. Stan felt his heart tug inside his chest. 

"What the hell am I going to do?" he asked himself. He had no home, no money, nothing! He knew if he went over to Catherine's house, she would without a second thought let him stay with her until he was able to get this treasure hunting thing going. But her dad was there too so with him there, there was no way he could stay with her. He really wanted to. My god, did he want to. He just wanted to go in there and never let her out of his arms but he knew he should stop hoping and thinking that way. 

Stan started the ignition again and with some hesitation, he drove away from her street, not even having the strength to tell her why she wouldn't see him at school anymore or ever. 

* * *

Catherine walked over to Ford's locker and smiled when she saw him standing there, grabbing his books for the day. 

"Hi Ford." she said and he jumped slightly at her voice. She looked at him with confusion and tired to look at him in the eyes. 

"What's up? You're acting jumpy plus you've been avoiding me all day." she bent slightly to look at his face and was surprised to see how tired he looked. His eyes were red and a little puffy as if he had been crying last night. 

"I'm fine Catherine. I just don't feel like talking today." he said quietly and tried to walk away but she grabbed his arm. 

"Where's Stanley?" Catherine searched his face and felt her heart race a little when she saw his sad and hurt expression. 

"Stan...he...well..." Ford tried and looked anywhere but her eyes. 

"Ford...what happened?" she was confused and most of all worried and scared.

"Stan got kicked out." Ford forced out and his face turned to one of a very serious and dark expression. "I found out yesterday that he broke my project and dad heard when we were arguing so he kicked him out." 

At that moment, Catherine thought she might have to ask Ford how to breathe because she felt as if all of the air was taken out of her lungs. 

"He...what?" she whispered and Ford sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

"Catherine, Stanley broke my project and got kicked out. Dad won't let him come back because of it so you might not see him-" 

"Well, why didn't you say anything?" she said, interrupting him. Ford frowned and shook his head.

"Why would I say something? He broke my project! He ruined my chances to go to West Coast Tech! As if I would say something." Ford said scoffing. 

Catherine glared at him. "He's your brother Stanford! You're supposed to stick up for him no matter what!" she pushed him away and crossed her arms. "When did you get so selfish?" 

Ford gave her a hurt look and only gaped at her. She turned on her heel and started to walk away but Ford grabbed her hand before she could get far. 

"Cath....I miss him too." he said and she turned around when she heard the crack and tremble in his voice. He stared at the ground and held a fist at his side. "Of course I wanted to say something. The hurt in his eyes...I can't get it out of my mind. But he.....he just couldn't let go. He had to go and sabotage my project just to get me to stay here in this dead end town." 

"You really think he would do that?" Catherine asked. Ford gave her a confused look and she frowned. "Did you even ask him about what happened? About his side of the story?" 

Ford's confused look changed to one of a guilty one and she glared at him. 

"Well, I...I mean....he..." Ford stuttered and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

She sighed and took her hand back. "You have no right to say those things about Stanley if you don't even know his side. Plus, you didn't even see it happen so you don't know if he did it for that reason." 

Ford looked at her and this time he was the one who frowned. "You don't know if he did." 

"You just have to see the worst in everyone, don't you?" Catherine snapped back.

"Come on Catherine. You're just saying this because you had feelings for him. It's making you see him through rose tinted glasses." Ford said, raising his voice slightly. 

"At least I wasn't happy about abandoning him!" she countered, raising her voice as well.

"He was delusional! He thought we were going to go treasure hunting! _Treasure hunting_! Catherine, Stan was living with his head in the clouds and reality brought him back down to earth and he couldn't handle it! I was going to go to college eventually! I actually want to be someone!" Ford scowled.

"Not everyone is a genius like you, you jerk!" Catherine yelled back. "He needed you and you were being selfish!" 

"It's not selfish to want to actually have a life!" Ford yelled. "It's selfish for wanting someone to give everything up just because you can't live on your goddamn own!" 

"He loved you, Stanford." Catherine said, her voice returning back to it's original volume. "He never asked you to give everything up. He just wanted you to be there for him. You were going all the way across the country. He was going to be all alone." 

"So?" Ford asked with an exasperated sigh. "He can get by on his own. With a personality like his, he could convince people to jump off a cliff if he wanted them to." 

"Personality isn't everything, Ford. He has no other friends. He was going to be alone. Something like that can really get to a person." Catherine glared at him. "He has no idea how to live on his own because of you." 

"Me? What did I do?" Ford asked surprised.

"You needed someone with you when we were kids. Or have you forgotten about that? Have you forgotten about all the times he stuck up for you, of all the times he got into fights because someone had made fun of you, of all the times he had a chance to make more friends but didn't because that would mean leaving you alone sometimes?" Catherine said.

Ford looked at his shoes. She was right. Stan had done all of those things for him. But....then why would he break his project? If Catherine was right then why would he try and ruin his chances at going to his dream school? 

 _Because he is the one being selfish not you,_ He thought. _You spent so much time helping him with school and helping him get by. He could have made other friends. You never asked him to do that for you. Besides, you weren't going to break contact with him. All you were going to do was go to your dream school and finally have everything you've ever wanted. But he was selfish and jealous and didn't want you to be that happy without him._

Ford frowned at Catherine and shook his head.  "I remember. But that's still no excuse to go and ruin my life." 

He didn't give Catherine a chance to respond. He only shut his locker door and walked down the hallway, feeling slightly more empty than before. 

* * *

The following weeks were complete torture for Stanford. A few days after Stanley had gotten kicked out, he began to see the commercials on tv. He almost laughed when he saw the first one, but he realized that it was real and this was what Stanley had to do for a job. It amazed him that people bought what ever it was he was selling, he never really payed much attention, especially with the really bad advertising he gave. 

Still it was nice to see his face every now and then and see he was at least alright. It took the small pang of worry off his shoulders. Catherine on the other hand had a completely different reaction. One he sort of expected but hoped he never saw. 

Now, Ford himself was very depressed the first two or three weeks without Stanley around. Something he hadn't expected. But the way Catherine started to act downright terrified him. 

She acted the same as she always had the first few days but she slowly started to get more quiet and started to close up. She distanced herself from a lot of people, especially him. The commercials helped her slightly, giving her the chance to see him as well, but it didn't help her much. To him, it seemed to only make her situation worse. 

He found out that Stanley had managed to con everyone into buying his products and that instead of helping those who bought it, only made their problems worse. Stanley eventually had to leave New Jersey because of it. Ford at that point was a little sad with the thought that he wouldn't see his brother anymore but he got over it. 

Catherine, instead, got even worse. She had stopped talking to anyone and it looked like she had started eating a lot less because of how pale and skinny she had gotten. Her eyes started to look sunken and red as if she was sleeping a lot less as well. Ford was starting to get worried now. 

He would go over to her house constantly but she never came to the door. Instead, her father would answer and he always denied him the chance to enter. 

She stopped going to school after a few weeks Stanley had left New Jersey. She would go sometimes go for the classes she had to get homework from but other than that, he started seeing less and less of her. It was a miracle she even graduated. He suspected her father had done most of her homework. 

The last time he saw her was before he was about to out to try and see her. There was exactly three knocks at the door when he was putting on his jacket.

He opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw her standing in his doorway.

"Hi Stanford." Catherine said as she played with the hem of her sweater. 

"Hey." he answered lamely back. Weeks without talking to her and he says hey. Brilliant.

"I was just about to go over and see you. I wanted to ask how you were doing." he said and she smiled, albeit weakly, but smiled. 

"Thanks. Listen, Ford," she began and gave him a sad look that almost hurt him to look at. He had never seen her like this. 

"Tomorrow morning my mom is picking me up to take me back to New York." she said. "I just wanted you to know. I am really sorry I haven't talked to you in a long time. I just couldn't look at you without thinking about...well, you know." 

Ford nodded and tried to swallow. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could utter a single word, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug and buried her face into his shoulder. 

"I'm going to miss you so much." she mumbled into his shirt and he only stood there completely confused. Wasn't she angry at him? Didn't she hate him for being the reason Stanley left? 

"I don't blame you." she said as if reading his mind and he smiled. He sighed and hugged her back. She didn't hate him then. Thank god. 

"I'm gonna miss you too." he said and she stepped back afterwards. 

She smiled at him, for a second looking like she did before everything had fallen apart, but then went back to looking like she did now. 

"I'll try to stay in touch, ok?" she said and he nodded again. 

"Alright." he smiled at her. She was about to turn around and leave but he stopped her. 

"Take care of yourself. Ok?" Ford said. "I know you still miss him. He's ok. Promise." 

A look of pain flashed in her eyes but it was gone after he blinked and she nodded. "Sure." 

He would not see her again in ten years after that.


	11. Still Into You

_Three years later..._  

Catherine walked down the hallway of Columbia University in busy New York City. She blew on a stray lock of brown hair away from her eyes but it fell right back in front and she sighed in annoyance. She tried to open her locker with one hand while the other held her many books from all of her morning classes. 

With a curse, she almost managed to open it but felt one of her books fall to the ground. She shut her eyes and was about to bend down to pick it up when she saw a hand grab it and lift from the tiled floor. 

"This is yours I assume?" The person who had picked it up asked in an almost confident voice. 

"Yes. Thank you." Catherine answered as she snatched the algebra book back and started to try to open her locket once again. 

"Here," the person said and proceeded to open her locker. "There you go." he said and he grinned at her in a very flirtatious manner. 

"Thank you again, Darius." she said with a sigh and started to put her books into the locker. She felt eyes on her still and an eye roll, she turned around to face the person who had helped her. "What do you want Darius?" 

Darius was a very handsome young man. He was on the football team and had exceptionally good grades. All the teachers loved him as rest of the students. He had so many friends, it was a surprise he wasn't friends with the entire university. He took a step back and gave her an offended look but grinned. "What? You don't enjoy my company?" 

"No actually I don't." she said as she frowned at him and looked at him with a bored expression.

"Aw, c'mon. Cathy don't be like that." he said as he stepped towards her but she glared at him which made him stop. 

"Don't call me 'Cathy'." she said and slammed her locker door shut. She put on her jacket and hat, and she started to walk away. 

"Hey, wait!" he called and ran after her. He grabbed her hand and she froze when he did. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight?" he rubbed the back of his neck and for the first time, looked a little nervous. "I've liked you for some time now and well, I thought maybe you'd like to go out for a movie or something." 

Catherine turned to him and he grinned at her. 

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good." she said and he frowned. 

"This is the third time I've asked you. How come you don't want to?" he asked, running a hand through his black hair. "Is there someone else?"

 _You could say that_ she thought. "No. I just don't to date anyone right now, and look, this might come as a shock to you, I'm sorry but I just don't like you." she said and he gave her a very surprised look. 

"But...but..." he stuttered and she sighed. 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get home to study." Catherine said and she left him standing there like an idiot, his mouth hanging open. 

* * *

Catherine sat down on the seat inside the fast moving train. She turned her head to the window and gave a soft sigh and rested her head onto the cool glass. Her mind was finally let to wander and once again, it chose her least favorite place for it to go. Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey. 

The memories of days spent on the sandy beach, running around with two other boys, twins in fact, and waving around sticks as if they were swords. Days fixing and building an old boat to use for future adventures. Nights spent under a blanket with a flashlight and telling each other stories, trying to see who got scared first. Nights spent laying on the beach just staring up at the millions and millions of stars in the sky while the boy with glasses pointed to the constellations and told her and his brother about them and the things he read about them in his many books. 

She blinked in surprise when she felt something wet on her cheeks and she reached a hand up to wipe away the tears that had managed to escape her. Catherine shut her eyes tight and willed her thoughts to go away from that place. 

The sound of her stop being called came up and she saw it as a blessing as she got up and walked out of the train into the crowded train station. She walked up the stairs and out into the cold, winter air. She shivered as a bone-chilling wind passed by her and she gripped her jacket tighter against herself walking down the street towards her apartment.

* * *

She smiled in relief when she saw the large apartment building. Her mother was paying half of her rent while she paid the other half with the money she got from her job as a waitress. She had never really forgiven her mother and they still didn't see eye to eye most of the time but she didn't hate her as much now. She has helped her quite a lot without wanting much in return. 

Catherine took her keys out of her jacket pocket and was about to put the key in until she heard a soft meowing on the right side of the building. She smiled and put her keys back into her pocket. She hopped down the stairs, and she walked around the side of the building. 

She knew the source of the meowing. She and the small grey somali cat had become very good friends after she found her in her trash can, just a small kitten. After that, she would always leave a small dish with cream out for her to drink and when she got back from school, she would take it back inside and refill it. 

"Alright, Lexi, let's refill that dish of yours-" she began to say as she picked up the red bowl and put it into her jacket but immediately stopped and froze when she saw a man sitting there with the small cat. The man was affectionally petting the cat on the head and the cat leaned into his touch as she purred happily. 

The man had a maroon jacket with a hood. The hood had a white, soft outlining and he had a cigarette in between his lips. He smiled when the cat purred again and gave his fingers a lick. The man chuckled and was about the take the cigarette out of his mouth to let the smoke out when he looked up and made eye contact with Catherine, freezing as well. 

"Uh....hi." she muttered. _Great_ she thought _Good job Catherine. Say hi to a total stranger._ She took a step towards him and he quickly stood up. The small cat gave a hiss from the sudden movement and ran back into one of the boxes there. 

"Hey." the man said. 

Catherine felt her heart stop when she heard the voice. It sounded oddly familiar. _It can't be..._ thethought ran through her head. A million thoughts began to pop up, coming up with so many reason of why it couldn't be the person who she thought it was but when the man took of his hood, she felt herself become light-headed when her eyes met with a pair of warm, chocolate brown eyes. 

"Stanley.....?" she said quietly. The man looked surprised when she said the name she hadn't said in three years. 

"How did you..." he began but she took another step forwards. 

"You don't remember me?" she asked. Was it not him? How could it not be. She could never forget those eyes. The same eyes that made her fall off the swing set all those years ago. 

"I don't...." the man started but faded off when he finally got a good look at her. His eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, loosing his balance and falling down into some of the trash bags on the cold ground. 

"Catherine?" he said quietly and she nodded. His jaw dropped and he ran a hand through his brown hair. 

"I...how...you...but..." he tried to form a coherent sentence but the words failed to come to him. 

Just the sight of him made her feel light and a big weight that she hadn't even realize was on her shoulders was suddenly lifted away. She smiled at him and held out a hand. "Need some help?" 

Stan looked at her hand and back up at her. He looked back at her hand and grasped it, letting her pull him up to his feet. 

His hands were still as warm as ever, even in the bitter cold of December. He was still taller than her by an inch or so but there was no doubting that it was Stanley. 

"Do you.....do you wanna come inside?" she asked quietly and after he thought it over, Stan nodded. 

Catherine led him to the front door and she took out her keys. Her hands shook as she tried to open the door and Stan grabbed her hands. 

"You're trembling." he said and he smiled at her. "Let me." 

She gazed up at him and handed him the keys. He put the key into the lock and turned it, unlocking the door and opening it. They stepped inside and she turned on the lights. She started to take off her jacket when she remembered Stan was with her. 

"You...you can take off your jacket if you want." she told him and he stared at her confused for a minute before realizing he had a jacket on and nodded. 

"Oh, right. Thanks" he muttered as he took off the maroon jacket. She took off hers and hung them both up on the hook on the door. She turned around and motioned to the couch.

"You can sit down." she said. He nodded and walked over to the small couch. He hesitantly sat down and sat there stiffly and awkwardly. She giggled at him and he looked at her in surprise. He never realized how much he had missed hearing that sound. 

She walked over to him and sat down next to him. "You don't have to sit so stiffly. It's not like I'm some stranger." she said with a small laugh. He smiled at her and she finally got a good look at him. 

His hair was longer and unkept. He needed a shave and his eyes looked tired and sunken. His cheeks were sunken in as well but he was a little chubbier in the middle than before. She reached up a hand and touched his cheek. He gave a quiet hiss at the new touch and shut his eyes, sighing and leaning into her touch. 

"I've missed you Stanley." she whispered. "You look a little different though." 

His eyes opened again. "That's what happens when you spend three years living around in a car." 

"What?" she said with a gasp and jumped up. 

"Wait! Don't!" he said and she gave him a surprised look. "Don't....can you just sit down again? I just want to hold you for a while. I've missed you too, Cath." 

Her surprised eyes softened and she sat back down. She curled up into his arms and felt him give a sigh as he buried his face into her hair. She felt warm and finally felt home for the first time in a long time. 

After a few minutes they separated and she reached up a hand to touch his cheek again. 

"You were living in a car all this time?" she asked and with some hesitation, he nodded. 

"After a couple of tries with the whole salesman thing, it stopped working so I had no job. I didn't have any money. So I've had to live in my car this whole time, just driving through different states." Stan said, looking down a shame. "Guess dad was right about me being useless." 

"Don't say that!" Catherine yelled at him angrily. He looked at her with wide eyes and she sighed. "You know I hate it when you say that. You're not useless, Stanley." 

He smiled at her and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "Thanks." 

She blushed, something she hadn't done since high school, and she stood up from the couch. 

"Come on. I bet your hungry. I can probably cook something up real quick." 

The look on his face was enough for her to go into the kitchen and turn on the stove. He walked in after her and stood buy the table, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

"Need any help?" he asked and she shook her head. 

"No, it's fine." She turned to look at him and smiled. "You can take a shower if you want. I bet you haven't had one in a long time. A good hot shower will make you feel great." 

He grinned at her and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." 

She turned back to the stove and heard the door to the bathroom close but a few seconds later open again. 

"You forget something...?" she began but was interrupted when Stanley came up from behind her and turned her around, lifting her up and connecting his lips with hers. 

Her eyes widened in surprise but they slowly closed. A warm and tingly feeling filled inside her and she felt a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach. She let out a moan when Stan set her back down onto her feet and moved his hands from her waist to lift up her shirt slightly. His fingers touched her skin and she felt a shiver rush up her spine. His lips moved from hers to her neck and she let out a gasp. 

"Stanley..." she said breathless and she ran her fingers through his hair. 

"Man, have I missed you." he said and he moved back to her lips. He kissed her with so much want and need that it made her dizzy. They separated and he rested his forehead against hers. 

"Y-you better h-hurry and take a s-shower. I have to make us some food." Catherine said, breathing quickly and looked at him through half-lidded eyes. He grinned at her and nodded, stepping away from her and walking back into the bathroom. 

She started to cook but even though she was standing near the hot stove, she felt cold without Stan's arms around her. 

She finished cooking right at the moment that Stan left the bathroom. She felt the burning feeling in her stomach when she saw him, towel around his shoulders and his hair slicked back. 

"Nice timing." she said as she set a plate of spaghetti down in front of him and he grinned at her. 

"You're amazing." he said and he grabbed a forkful of food, shoving it into his mouth. She giggled at his enthusiasm as he continued to eat. 

They sat there together, talking and laughing, trying to recover all the lost time between them. She did most of the talking while he only listened with a smile and complete adoration. 

They moved to the couch after he finished eating and they just sat there in each other's arms watching the television. Catherine looked up at him to tell him something but she smiled when she saw he had already fallen asleep. 

With some slight difficulty, she  moved him over to her bedroom and lay him down onto her bed. She changed into her pajamas and slid into bed next to him. She sighed happily and closed her eyes, but they opened again when she felt Stanley's arms wrap around her waist and she felt her heart stop when she heard him mumble quietly before falling back to sleep. 

"I love you." 


	12. I Think I've Found It

Stanley woke up the next day just as the sun was starting to come out. His eyes slowly adjusted to his surroundings and they widened when he realized where he was. He wasn't in his car. He was in a bed. He was about to get up when he felt something move beside him. Stan looked next to him and his heart froze. There Catherine lay, fast asleep, curled up in his side.

This was definitely something he wasn't used to. _You shouldn't be here_ a voice inside him said _You have to go. You already ruined Ford's life, why would you ruin her's?_

He removed his arm from under her and slowly got off the bed. She moved slightly but only curled up under the warm blanket and her lips curled into a small smile. Stan could feel his heart hurt as he forced himself to walk out of the room, his shoes in one hand. He walked out of the room and softly shut the door. Once in the hallway, he let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.

It wasn't like he wanted to go. Everything in his body was begging him to jump back into bed and fall back to sleep with Catherine in his arms. Honestly, last night was the best he had ever slept in the last four years since he was kicked out. But the little reason in his head said that he should get the hell out of there.

Stan walked into the living room and sat down to put on his shoes. But just as he was about to tie the laces, he heard an alarm from the bedroom and he groaned internally. _Damn it._

Catherine walked out, rubbing her eyes and barefoot. She looked a little surprised when she saw Stan but she grinned after a few seconds. She hopped onto the couch next to him and she sat on her legs.

"Morning." she said happily and he forced a smile. Thankfully she didn't notice.

"Morning." he responded and she grabbed his hand.

"Want breakfast?" she said and for a few minutes he forgot he was just about to leave as he grinned and nodded at her. "Okay, I'll go make some." she leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek as she stood up and started to walk to the kitchen. She paused though, and turned back around.

"Oh, by the way, I have school in a few hours. You don't mind staying here alone for a while do you? I'll probably be back by noon." she asked him and he nodded.

"Sure. I'll be fine." he answered and she smiled at him. She went into the kitchen and he let out a sigh, tossing his head back.

Damn it. She wants him to stay. _You can't_ he thought, _You'll just be a burden for her. Yeah but if I go, I'll only hurt her more. Look how happy she is._

He frowned as his thoughts argued in his head. Both sides were right. On one hand, if he left, she'd get hurt again like last time. But then if he stayed he's only get in the way and eventually, she'd get sick of him like Ford did.

Just as Stanley came to a decision, Catherine called him from the kitchen and he stood up from the couch.

* * *

 

"So what's his name?" the girl asked Catherine.

"Stanley Pines." she said and she continued to copy down the notes for the test in two days. The girl pouted her lips and leaned back in her chair. She continued to look over at Catherine and eventually lost her patience.

"Well!" she said, trying to keep her voice down so the professor wouldn't here them.

"Well what?" Catherine asked, innocently.

"Aren't you gonna tell me more about him? He is the reason you continuously deny Darius of a date right?" the girl asked. Catherine nodded and smiled when she heard her groan. The girl she was talking to was Lanesra. She was one of the few friends that Catherine had. She was from Brooklyn so she had a very thick accent but it some how never got on Catherine's nerves as it did for some people.

Lanersa was very smart. Unbelievably smart. It surprised Catherine she hadn't gotten into a school like Harvard because of it. She reached up a hand to fix her red rimmed glasses and she leaned closer to Catherine.

"So what's he like?" Lanersa asked again.

"I'll tell you after class." Catherine said as she quickly tried to copy down everything the professor was saying.

* * *

 

Eventually the class ended and Lanersa wouldn't leave Catherine's side.

"Come on! Talk!" she said as she bounced on her heels.

"Alright!" Catherine said, laughing. She started to tell her everything. About when they were kids, teenagers, how Stan got kicked out and eventually she left New Jersey for New York and up until now.

They left the big building as Catherine finished up telling her everything and Lanersa nodded.

"Ah. That's why then." she said in her thick accent. "He stayin' at your apartment right now then?"

"Yeah. He-" Catherine began but was cut off when Darius came up to them, a grin on his face.

"Hello ladies. How is your day going so far?" he asked in a smooth voice that almost everyone liked. Everyone except her.

"Just fine." she answered and Lanersa rolled her bright blue eyes.

"Great." he said and put his hands into his pockets. "Look, Cathy, I was thinking about yesterday and well..."

"Yeah?" Catherine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just wanted to say sorry. I guess maybe I was coming on a little strong." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Catherine stared at him in surprise and looked over to her friend who only shrugged and looked just as surprised as she did.

"Uh, thanks, Darius." She said and he smiled at her. "I appreciate that."

He looked like he was about to say something else but the sound of a car horn cut him off.

They turned to look at the source of the sound and a grin popped up on Catherine's face.

"Stanley!" she said happily and she ran over to him as Darius gave Lanersa a confused look.

"Who's that?" he asked and she smirked at him.

"That's the reason she wouldn't go out with you." she said and Darius's jaw tightened as he walked over to the car.

"Hey." Stanley said as he got out of the red convertible. He laughed when Catherine threw herself into his arms and his laughter was muffled when she kissed him on the lips. They smiled at each other when they separated but she then gave him a confused look.

"How did you know where I went to school?" she asked him and he gave her a sheepish grin.

"I may have looked through some of your notebooks." he said and she gave him a playful punch in the shoulder.

"Ass." she said and he laughed. But his laughter was cut short when Darius came up from behind Catherine and Stan frowned when he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Well, Cathy, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend here?" he asked in a condescending tone.

"Oh," Catherine said as she frowned as well and turned back to Stan who was glaring at Darius. "Stanley, this is Darius. Darius, this is Stanley Pines."

The two shook hands, both gripping the other a little harder than normal.

"You're a lucky guy, Stan. I have asked her endlessly to go out with me but she always said no. You must be why." Darius said and Stanley forced a smile

"Really? Well, then I'm glad for that. Guess she likes me as much as I like her." Stan said as he wrapped an arm around Catherine's waist. She giggled when he said that and Darius curled his hands into fists to keep from lashing out.

Lanersa looked on with an amused smile and walked over to Darius.

"Alright, well we better let them get going. Besides, don't you have football practice?" she said, trying to get Darius to back off. It seemed to work when a look of recognition crossed his face and he face palmed himself.

"RIght!" he looked at Catherine again and smiled. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"I guess." she answered and he ran back over to the large university. Catherine looked at her friend in gratefulness. "Thanks. Never thought he'd leave."

Lanersa laughed and nodded. "No problem." she looked at Stan and moved her gaze up and down. "So this is the guy you never shut up about?"

Stanley grinned as Catherine blushed slightly and nodded.

"Well, if he was able to piss off Darius that much then he's alright." Lanersa said, sticking out a hand to Stan. "Name's Lanersa. Nice to meet cha." she shook hands with him and afterwards she grinned at Catherine. "I gotta get going. Debate practice and what not."

"Try to give the rest of them a chance, will you? Don't kill them." Catherine joked. Lanersa grinned as she winked, walking back to the school.

* * *

 

The ride back to Catherine's apartment was surprisingly quiet. She gave him side glances every once in a while but other than that, there was little communication.

Stanley parked the car in front of her apartment building but kept the engine running as Catherine shot him a confused glance.

"What is it?" she asked him and he sighed. He looked her way and she felt her heart pound slightly faster when she saw the hurt in his eyes. "Stan?"

"Look," he began and took a deep breath. "I know what you're going to say, and yes, I really do want to stay here but...the truth is I can't."

She stared at him in surprise but then a pained expression crossed her face. "Why?"

"Cath, please don't look like that..." he tried but she cut him off.

"Well, how else am I supposed to look like?" she asked, anger clearly showing through it. "Am I supposed to be happy about what you just told me?!"

"I..."

"Don't!" she yelled at him. "Why would you do this? Why would you leave me again?" she felt like hitting him in the face but at the same time just breaking down in tears and having him comfort her. "Do you realize how much it hurt me when you left?! How much I had to go through to not just off myself?!"

Stanley stared at her wide-eyed and extremely quiet.

"Goddamn it Stanley!" Catherine said as she glared at him through her unshed tears. 

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?!" Stan yelled back. 

"Stay!" she countered with clenched fists.

"I can't!" Stan said as he slammed his hands on the steering wheel. "I can't! Don't you get it? I can't stay here!" He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "After what happened....I don't want the same thing to happen again." 

Catherine felt her anger fade away. "What's going to happen if you stay?" 

"You're gonna get sick of me. Or worse, you'll be finished with college and have to get a job and probably forget about me." Stanley stared at his hands. "You'll do the same thing Ford did and forget about me because you actually did something with your life. I don't think I can go through that again. Especially if it's you." 

"You're just like your brother." she said with a glare. His head shot up and she continued. "You only think about yourselves. Did you ever realize how I would feel about this?" 

Stan gave her a guilty look but nodded and she crossed her arms. "And to what conclusion did you reach?" 

"That even though at first you'd be hurt but then you'd get over it." 

She scoffed. "Okay. Sure. Like I just 'got over' you leaving the first time. Right. As if my depression was just a phase I was going through." 

She kept going when he gave her a surprised look at the mention of her depression, something he had no idea about. 

"Yeah, I had depression. You leaving hit me that hard." she chuckled bitterly. "Well, at least now you're at least saying goodbye." 

The car was quiet for the next few minutes, the only sound coming from outside as the cars drove by them and the occasional person would walk by talking loud enough for them to hear. 

"Did you mean what you said?" Catherine eventually said, breaking the silence. 

"What?" Stan asked, confused. 

"Last night. When we went to sleep. Did you mean it?" she looked over to him and the begging in her eyes caused him to avoid her gaze. 

He remembered the three words that he had wished he had told her so much earlier. Days and nights imagining the moment when he would tell her those words. This was definitely not one of those moments. He didn't know what made him say those words at that time. He just felt so happy and just the feeling of her being there made him say them without a second thought. Of course he meant them. He did love her. So much it hurt him sometimes. But he had no idea if he should tell her or not. 

"I..." he tried to give her an answer but the only thing that came to mind was yes. A big, loud yes. His reason had gone out the door when he saw how hurt she looked and how much her eyes begged him to say what he was thinking. But for some reason, the word wouldn't form in his mouth. 

She sighed and grabbed the handle to the car door. "Goodbye Stanley." she tried not to break down in tears at that moment, but every movement she made was like a stab to the chest. 

"Wait!" Stan yelled and grabbed her arm. He was acting on reflexes now. All on instinct. 

She turned around and gave him a hopeful look. 

"I....well...." He fumbled with his words but he forced his mouth to cooperate with his head. "Yes. I meant it." 

"Then why do you have to go?" she said quietly. 

"I...I don't want to hold you back." he said and he slowly felt his throat tighten up. "I already ruined Ford's life. I don't want to do the same to you. I _can't_ do the same to you." 

"Take me with you then." 

His jaw dropped when he heard her say those words and he almost thought he was actually in his car, sleeping and this was just a dream he was having. 

"You... _what?!_ " he asked incredulously.  

"Take me with you then. If you say you don't want me to ruin my life then let me choose what I want to do." she said and he rapidly shoot his head. 

"Nope! No way! That's even worse!" he said and she threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. 

"It's my choice! You can't ruin my life if it's my choice." she then smiled at him. "Besides, then neither one of us will get hurt if I go with you." 

"But you have school! You have the chance to get a good job afterwards and have a good life! I can't give you that." he said, trying to reason with her. To his dismay, she only shook her head. 

"Stan, I am miserable here. Sure I talk to some people but that's rare! The girl you just met was one of my only friends!" she said. "I am all alone in this goddamn city where I have to do what _my mom_ wants. And now I have the chance to be with the one person other than my dad who by the way, _died_ last year, actually gives a shit about me wants to leave me because it's _he_ thinks is the right decision for me!" she took several breaths before she continued. 

"You are doing the same thing you did to Ford! You are making decisions for him without even asking him if that's what he wants. I stood up for you when Ford called you selfish but now you're doing the same thing to me! Can I please for once just do something that is completely my own decision?!" 

Stanley stared at her for a few minutes and then looked out in front of him through the windshield. 

"Go pack." was al he said and she grinned. 

A few minutes later, she came back outside with a bag slung over her shoulder. 

"This is crazy." Stan muttered to himself and he turned to her as she shut the door. "So, uh, who's gonna take care of the house?" 

"I left a message for my mom. I also left a message for Lanersa so she won't worry about where I am." Catherine explained as she tossed her bag into the back seat and put on her seat belt. 

"This is your last chance to change your mind. Are sure you want to do this?" Stan asked her and she only leaned over, kissing him softly. 

"Positive." 

He nodded and moved the car away from the curb, into the busy New York City streets. 


	13. I Bet My Life

The next few years were quite interesting to say the least. They spent way more time in the old red convertible than in the few motels they stayed in. The first few weeks Stan continued to ask Catherine if she wanted to go back to New York. But each time he asked she would answer with the same answer. No. 

Eventually he gave up asking. He finally let himself relax and enjoy the feeling and thought that she would be there next to him every time he looked at the passengers side. He let himself enjoy the feeling of waking up every time they chose to stop with her sleeping next to him. 

That is until once again his stupidity got them into trouble. He had gotten arrested three times. All three in different countries. But he forgot about how miserable he had been each time he got locked up every time he was let out because he would find her waiting there with the car and every time she would greet him with a punch in the shoulder but then shower him with kisses, telling him over and over again how much she missed him and how much she loved him even though he was an idiot. 

He would come out with several bruises and each time he would be met with her questions filled with worry, asking about what had happened and if he was okay. He of course nodded and after several times of insisting he was fine, she finally let up and they got back into the red car, driving to where ever they could go next. 

But after seven years, he couldn't help but worry each night a little more. And during those nights, he found himself staring up at the visor on his side and gazing sadly at the picture taped to it. He would try not to, but his eyes would always end up being drawn to the picture of him and his brother. It was taken during one of their boxing practices, back when Ford still took boxing. 

Stan let out a sigh as he found himself once again staring at the picture. He felt movement next to him and he glanced to his side. His chocolate brown eyes were met with Catherine's emerald ones and he smiled. 

"You staring at that picture again?" she asked sleepily. 

"Yeah. Can't help it, I guess." he replied. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up and moved closer to him, his arm going around her shoulders. 

"Don't. You get all sad when you do." she said as her eyes started to droop. He smiled lovingly at her and kissed the top of her head. 

"Don't worry about me. Go back to sleep." 

"We gonna start moving again?" she asked when she shut her eyes again. 

"Yeah." he looked at the road map on the dashboard and frowned. "We gotta head over to Colorado now. We can't stay in Kansas anymore. Gotta head over to Denver." 

"Okay. Wake me up when you want me to drive." Catherine said as she moved back to her seat as he got ready to drive. He opened his mouth to protest but she gave him a glare which shut him up immediately. 

* * *

He grinned when he came back to the booth and sat down in front of Catherine at the small diner. 

"Why are you so happy?" she asked as she put a fry into her mouth. They had stopped at the place to grab something to eat, but sharing a plate because they only had enough for one. 

"I got a fight." he said and grabbed one as well. Her eyes widened and she looked like she wanted to say something but he raised a hand. 

"Before you say anything, I couldn't say no because we need the money. If I win, we'll get a lot." he told her making her frown but she stayed quiet so he continued. 

"There are already a lot people betting on the guy I'm fighting so..." he said with a shrug of his shoulders and popped another fry into his mouth. 

"Stanley, the last time you fought, the guy almost broke your jaw." Catherine said, worry shining in her eyes. She hated seeing him fight even if he was right. 

"I know, I know. But I've had time to practice in prison. I'll be fine." he said and she knew that was the end of that. He was so goddamn stubborn. 

* * *

 

The usually quiet and calm room was filled with cheers and yells as the two fighters in the center tried to knock the other out. 

Stan moved quickly on his feet and so far, was successfully landing several punches to his opponent. He faintly heard the crowd's loud cheers around him but they were muffled. He was in his element. The other guy landed a punch to his jaw and he tasted the familiar metallic taste of blood fill his mouth but he ignored it as he countered with two more hits. 

He dodged the guy's fist as it aimed for his head and he threw a right hook to his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He took the chance to land an other punch to the guy but missed as he stood up quicker than Stan expected and was hit on the left side of his head, knocking him to the hard concrete ground. 

The room around him started to fade to black but he felt two hands grab his face. He forced his eyes to focus on the person over him. 

"Stanley!" Catherine yelled over the cheers of the crowd and she felt her cheeks become wet with the tears falling down. "Goddamn it, Stan. If you loose this match, I swear I will catch the next bus to New York and leave you here." 

His eyes popped open when she told him that and with some effort, he got up to his feet, albeit a little shaky. He grabbed Catherine and kissed her hard. She felt her mind get fuzzy and her eyelids fluttered closed as the people around them shouted and wolf-whistled at them. 

"Don't you even dare." he muttered when he separated from her and she grinned. 

"Then win." 

He nodded, his expression now determined and turned back to his opponent. 

The match continued and he suddenly lost the feeling of time for the next thing he knew he threw a punch at the guy and he fell to the ground, not getting back up. 

Cheers and yells erupted in the small venue and Stan managed a grin. He felt his knees become weak but before he could fall down, a few of the men in the crowd helped him stay up and helped him into the back room to get patched up and rest. 

"Stan!" Catherine exclaimed as she ran into the room and went to his side in a flash. He grinned at her weakly and touched her face softly. 

"Hey you." he said, his voice raspy and groggy. 

She laughed as she leaned into his touch and she let his thumb wipe away the tears that managed to escape. "You're an idiot." 

"I know. I've been told." he said and she leaned over and hugged him. They were interrupted though when a man came in and handed Stan a white envelope. 

"Here you are buddy. Congrats." he told him and walked out. Stan stared at the envelope for a few seconds before he ripped it open. He took out a large wad of money and his eyes widened. He flipped through the cash and from what he could count, it looked to be about 900. 

"Wow." Catherine breathed out and Stan nodded. 

"Told you this was a good idea." he said and she kissed his cheek. 

"Alright. Let's go before your ego gets more inflated." she said and he laughed, though he then clutched his abdomen. 

"Stan?" she asked, worried again and he waved a hand at her. 

"I'm fine." he told her. "But, uh, let's go. I have my supplies in the car. We can go find a motel we can stay at." 

She nodded at him and he put an arm around her shoulders as she helped him leave the room and out into the cold Colorado air. 

* * *

Stanley hissed in pain when Catherine lifted his shirt up and removed it. 

"Sorry!" she quickly said and he smiled at her. The sat on a bed inside a cheap motel room and had decided to stay for the next few days while Stan healed up a little bit. 

"It's fine." he said but the bruises already forming on his abdomen told otherwise. She gave him a sympathetic look and started to wrap bandages around his middle. When she finished, looked at him and found him staring at her, a strange glint in his eyes. She was able to get a good look at his face and felt her heart hurt. 

He looked extremely tired. His left eye was already starting to swell and was a dark purple. His bottom lip was cut and she noticed how his hair was a lot longer than before. He didn't look too bad with the long hair though. She actually liked it. 

She reached a hand up and ran her fingers through his brown hair, making a sigh escape his lips. 

"Thank you." he said to her and she smiled at him, leaning over and kissing the corner of his mouth. She moved back but he stopped her and kissed her fully on the lips. It was her turn to sigh as she kissed him, slightly tasting the blood from the cut on his lip. 

Stan moved his hands to her waist and rubbed circles into her hips with his thumbs. He moved his hands underneath her shirt and ran his fingers up her side and ribcage. Catherine giggled slightly when he did and he smiled against her lips as he wrapped his arms around her and caused them to fall back onto the bed. She gave a small squeak in surprise and he grinned. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved closer to him, deepening the kiss. 

They continued to kiss for a few minutes until he suddenly pulled back and she looked at him confused. 

"What is it?" she asked and he smiled at her, giving her a small kiss on the side of her neck. 

"I have to give you something." he said, his voice sounding a little raspy and deeper than usual. She raised an eyebrow and he got off the bed, searching through his jacket pockets and eventually pulling something out though she couldn't see it since he held it in a tight fist. 

He walked back to bed and sat down, grinning. "Here." he held out his hand and when he opened his palm, her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. 

"Where did you get that?" she asked, her eyes going from the object in his hand and his face. 

"Let's just say I had to go through a lot to get it." he told her grinning. In his hands was a silver crescent moon necklace. It had a small angel sitting on the bottom and the inside of the moon had swirls and small diamonds, making it glitter in the light of the room. 

"Stanley....it's beautiful." Catherine whispered and he leaned over to her, unclasping the necklace to put it around her neck. 

"Beautiful necklace for a beautiful woman." he whispered back, making her blush. He struggled a little with the tiny clasp but eventually got it to close. He moved back to get a good look a her and he sucked in a breath. She was gorgeous. At least to him, she always was. But now for some reason she was even more. "Damn." he muttered and she giggled. 

Catherine leaned towards him and kissed softly but then he pulled her closer to him, the kiss becoming deeper. He pushed her slowly onto her back and they lay down on the bed. He moved down to her neck and left small bites as he moved lower. His hands moved under her shirt and continued to move up while she pulled at his own shirt. 

He moved back for a bit to take it off and after it was tossed to the side, he went back to his previous actions. 

Catherine's head was swirling with emotions and she felt a burning sensation lower down her body. At 27, she knew what that meant. And with the thing pressing into her thigh, she knew Stanley was feeling the same way. 

Stan thought he was going to explode with how many thoughts were going through his head. She was driving him insane. But a sliver of self-control came back and caused him to, with a lot of hesitation, stopped what he was doing and separated from her. 

"What's wrong?" Catherine asked, slightly breathless. 

"I...well...are you sure you want to do this? If I don't stop now, I don't think I'll be able to later." he said and she smiled slyly at him, reaching up and pulling him back down by the head and kissing him passionately. 

"Stanley, you have no idea how long I have waited for this." she told him. "I love you and I really don't think I can do this with anyone else. So yes, I am very sure I want to do this." 

He stared at her for a bit but then grinned and kissed her again. "I love you too." he moved down to her neck and then her shoulders. "I love you so much." 

He stopped though and looked at her. "But...you promise to stop me if you change your mind?"

"Stanley..."

"Promise?" 

She smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose softly. "Yes, I promise. Now shut up." 

* * *

 

He was snapped out of his sleep when a loud knocking broke the silence of the night. He looked over at the clock and saw it was about 9:45 pm. He looked over to his side and found Catherine was still asleep. He smiled and tenderly kissed the top of her head. 

The events of last night flooded his head. It was probably the most amazing thing he had ever done. But he shook his head, shaking the thoughts away. There would be time to think about that later.

He got up cautiously and grabbed the baseball bat. Stealing that necklace and getting on the bad side of those gangsters was coming back to bite him in the ass. 

"Just give me a few more days Rico, I’ll pay your goons back I swear!" he said to the door but he saw a thin paper get slipped under the door. 

He looks a it in confusion and he walked up to the peephole. He looked through and saw mailman walk away from the door. Stan sighed in relief, putting down the bat.

"Who was it?" he heard from behind him and he turned around to see Catherine awake, the blanket wrapped around her.  

"Mailman." he answered and walked back to the bed, sitting down and finally looking at the paper that was slipped through the door. His heart stopped when he read what was written and he heard Catherine suck in a breath. 

The postcard read ' _Come Help - Ford._ ' 

It was from Gravity Falls, Oregon.


	14. Everything Stays

Help. Ford. Ford. Ford. Help.

His name wouldn't stop repeating along with the word help. He needed help. Stan had stopped breathing when he read the postcard and at Catherine's touch he flinched and finally let out a long, shaky breath. 

"Stanley? Are you okay?" she asked quietly. He looked at her over his shoulder. She was still wrapped in the blanket and only her legs and shoulders were uncovered. She looked beautiful and all he wanted to do was lay back down and make love to her like he had last night. But the postcard in his hand held too much of his attention. He smiled at her and nodded. 

"Yeah. Sure." he told her and stood up off of the bed, reaching down and grabbing his jeans. "Come on. We gotta get going." 

"Now?" she asked. "But...you're still hurt." 

"Ford needs help." Stan said, frowning. "Who cares if I'm still hurt. He needs me and I'm gonna go help him. " 

Catherine smiled at him and got up off the bed, going up to him and wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. 

"You still love him." 

She felt him grunt in response and she looked up at him. He had a serious expression, something that was rare on him. "Why? He hasn't talked to you in 10 years." 

"He's my brother." was all Stan said and she nodded. She stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek before getting dressed. 

* * *

Stanley squinted his eyes as he continued to try and drive through the relentless Oregon snow. 

"Damn. I can't see shit." Stanley cursed, making Catherine look over at him. 

"Well, maybe you would see better with your glasses." she said but refrained from saying anything else when he sent her a glare. 

She went back to biting her nails as they drove. She was very worried. Nope, scratch that. Beyond worried. Stan glanced her way and reached over with one hand to pull her poor fingers away from her mouth. 

"Quit biting your nails." he told her and she put her hand into her jacket pocket. She used her other hand to reach up and absentmindedly touch the crescent moon necklace that was still around her neck. The feeling of the cool and smooth metal managed to soothe her a bit as she stared out the window, watching millions of green, almost white, pine trees go by. 

Thankfully, they arrived before the storm got too bad and they drove slightly slower into the small town of Gravity Falls. 

"Where do you think Ford lives?" Catherine asked and Stan shrugged. 

"Don't know. It didn't say on the postcard." 

"Do you want to ask someone? Maybe someone might know where he is." Catherine said and Stan only grunted in acknowledgement as he drove closer to the sidewalk and rolled down the window for her. 

"Excuse me." Catherine asked as man walked by the car. He turned and nodded. 

"Yes?" 

"Don you know where Stanford Pines is?" she asked and the man took a few minutes before answering. 

"Hmmm. Stanford Pines....Ah yes! That strange scientist. He lives up in the forest." he pointed to the road curving away from the town. "Just follow that road up there and you're bound to find him." 

"Thank you." she said and rolled the window back down. The car began to move again, heading up into the thick forest.

* * *

"I think that's it." Catherine pointed at a very shabby and broken looking shack. 

"That?" Stan said in disbelief. He expected Stanford to live in a way better and bigger house than this dump. What could have happened?

His worry came back full storm as he stopped the car and they got out. They walked over the shack and Stanley removed the hood of his jacket to see it better. He and Catherine shared a look before he grabbed her hand and they walked up the door. There was a 'No Trespassing' sign on the door and Catherine gave Stan a worried look which he returned. 

Stan took a deep breath and raised a fist to knock but he hesitated.  _You haven't seen your brother in over ten years. It's okay. He's family! He won't bite_ he thought and knocked on the wooden door about two times before the door swung open and they both took a huge step back in surprise when Stanford stood in the doorway, a crossbow in his hands. 

"Who is it?!" he asked in a panicked and paranoid voice. "Have you come to steal my eyes?!" 

Stanley and Catherine stared at him in surprise and then they looked at each other and then back at him. Stan frowned and stood back up straight, Catherine still cautious, standing behind him. 

"Well I could always count on you for a warm welcome." he said sarcastically. At the sound of Stan's voice, Ford blinked and stared at them for a minute or so before he realized who they were and lowered the weapon in his hand. 

"Stan? Catherine?" he asked. Stanley raised an eyebrow as Catherine finally came out from behind Stan. 

"Hi Stanford." she said with a small wave. 

"I...didn't expect you to be with Stanley." Ford said. He finally stood up straight and looked around the area, as if expecting to find something. "No matter. Stanley, did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?"

"Eh, hello to you too pal." Stan said with a frown, his voice dripping in sarcasm. Ford grabbed both him and Catherine by their jackets and pulled them inside. Catherine let out a small squeak of surprise and Stan yelped when Ford pulled them both close and used a flashlight to look into their eyes. 

"Ah! Hey, what is this?" Stan said as he yanked his jacket away from Ford and pulled Catherine along with him. The hell was up with him? Stan finally got a good look at him and worry filled him up again. He looked extremely tired. As if he hadn't slept in a month. He probably hadn't. His hair was a mess and his clothes looked disheveled. Stubble covered his cheeks and chin and he looked at his hands where he found them covered in cuts and bruises. 

Ford took a step back and turned off the flashlight. "Sorry. I just had to make sure you weren't....' he began but thought twice about it and stopped. "uh, it's nothing." he finished and finally motioned for them to follow him. "Come in, come in." 

As they walked into the cluttered and messy house, Catherine gripped Stanley's arm and he looked down at her. 

"Stan, I'm worried. Ford's acting weird." she said and he nodded. 

"Yeah. I know." he looked back at Ford and shrugged. "It's probably nothing though. I mean, this is Stanford we're talkin' about." They continued to follow Stanford into his somewhat living room and finally Stanley asked him something. 

"Look, are you gonna explain what's going on here? You're acting like mom after a tenth cup of coffee." he said and Ford finally stopped walking making them stop as well. He still had his back to them but he seemed to grab something on the table in front of him. 

"Listen, there isn't much time." he said as he turned to them. He held a thick maroon book. "I've made a huge mistake and I don't know who I can trust anymore." he walked up to them but he glanced to his side where a skeleton stood propped up with a stand and he turned the skull away from him. 

Stan felt his slight annoyance fade away but as if she could read his mind, Catherine stepped forwards and said what he was just about to say. 

"Hey easy there. Let's talk this through." she said in that soothing voice of hers that he loved. But it didn't seem to work on Ford like it did to him as Ford only smiled slightly at her and then looked at the both of them with a serious expression. 

"I have something to show you. Something you won't believe." Ford said, his eyes widening slightly towards the end. 

Stan scoffed and smirked. "Look, we've been around the world okay? Whatever it is, we'll understand." 

"Alright then." Ford said and he lead them down a long flight of stairs. The area got slightly cooler than upstairs and there was a sort of blue tinge to everything there. Ford began explaining how he had come there to Gravity Falls to investigate all of the strange and unusual things that had been going on there. He and an old college friend had built this portal that could lead them to other dimensions and other universes. 

When he showed them the portal, they both gaped at it. The thing was huge. It looked sort of like an upside down triangle. 

"There is nothing about this I understand." Stanley said after Ford had finished explaining and he sighed. 

"A trans-universal gateway. A punched hole through a weak spot in our dimension." Ford said as he motioned a hand towards the machine. "I created it to unlock the mysteries of the universe." A look of regret passed by on his face as he continued. "But it just could easily be harnessed for terrible destruction." He took out his book again and showed it to them. It had a gold hand on it, a one in the middle. "That's why I shut it down and hid my journals which explain how to operate it." 

He walked up to them and handed it to them. Catherine reached out and grabbed the leather book. 

"There's only one journal left," Ford said as Catherine looked at the book. "and you two are the only ones I can trust to take it." 

He walked closer to Stanley. "I have something to ask of you." Stan raised an eyebrow and Ford continued. "Remember our plans to sail around the world on a boat?"

Stan's heart stopped. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Ford actually remembered that! His heart swelled and a feeling of pure happiness filled him. He forgot about everything that had happened before and all he thought about was the fact that his brother wanted to sail the world with him like they had said as kids. His brother, the person who he loved with every fiber of his being, wanted to go sail on a boat with him. 

He hadn't expected the words that came afterwards. 

"Take this book, get on a boat, and sail as far away as you can." Ford said waving a hand. He walked away from Stan to stand in front of his machine. "To the edge of the earth. Bury it where no one can find it." 

He thought he had shot him for Stan felt a burning sensation in his chest. His heart had never hurt so much in his entire life before. There was no word in existence to describe how much Ford had hurt him with those words. He felt like breaking down and crying. 

"Stanley?" he heard Catherine say next to him and it was as if just the sound of her voice caused him to break out of that heartbroken state and finally react in the way he should have. Angry. 

"That's it!" Stan said as he threw his hands up in the air. "You finally want to see me after ten years and it's to tell me to get as far away from you as possible?!" He felt a wildfire burst inside him and the feelings of sadness mixed in with the hatred and anger. 

Ford turned back around and walked past him. "Stanley, you don't understand what I'm up against! What I've been through!"

Stan shook his head. He was _not_ doing this to him. "No! No! You don't understand what I've been through!" 

Ford turned to him and Stan stormed up to him, furious. "I've been in prison in three different countries! I once had to chew my way out of the trunk of a car!" he may have been exaggerating at that part but he didn't care right now. "You think you've got problems?" he asked, shoving a finger in Ford's chest. He then pointed to himself. "I've got a mullet Stanford! Meanwhile, where have you been? Living it up in your fancy house in the woods!" 

He was now getting into things he shouldn't be saying. He had seen his house. I was anything but fancy. But his anger blinded him at the moment. He also couldn't stop the next sentence from coming out of his mouth. "Selfishly hoarding your college money because you only care about yourself!"

"Stan..." Catherine grabbed Stan's arm, not wanting his to get to out of control, knowing they both had short tempers. "I think we should just calm down and...." 

"I'm selfish?" Ford asked incredulously. "I'm _selfish_ , Stanley?! How can you say that after costing me my dream school! I've given you a chance to do the first worthwhile thing your life and you won't even listen!" Ford yelling with a glare. 

Stan glared back. First worthwhile thing?? He just basically called him useless and he felt a volcano of anger erupt in him. "Well listen to this! You want me to get rid of this book? Fine! I'll get rid of it right now!" He took out a lighter from his jacket pocket and looked at Catherine. "Cath, hand me the book." 

"Stan, wait, now don't over react..." she tried. 

"Give me the book, Cath. _Now!"_ he growled at her and she handed over the book in a flash.    

Ford caught on to what he was planning to do and reached out to grab it. "No! You don't understand!" he said as he got a grip on the journal. But Stan growled and yanked it back.

"You said you wanted me to have it so I'll do what I want with it!" He lifted the book up and brought the lighter up to one of the corners. 

Ford's eyes widened in shock and panic. "My research!"

He suddenly tackled Stanley to the ground causing him to drop the book. Catherine took the chance to run over and grab the book. But Ford caught her and yanked the book from her hands, the force of it causing her to lose her balance and fall back to the ground. In the act of grabbing the book back, Ford managed to yank her necklace off as well and it fell to the ground. Stan saw and he felt whatever was holding him back from actually hurting Ford snap. 

"Don't you touch her!" He yelled and tackled Ford. He grabbed the book and Ford began to fight with him, causing them to unknowingly go into a control room. 

"Stanley, give it back!" Ford yelled and Stan only glared back. 

"If you want it back, you're gonna have to try harder than that!" 

Without realizing it, they pumped into the controls of the portal, causing it to turn on. They continue to fight as Stan is now standing over Ford trying to get the journal from his hands. 

"You left me behind you jerk! It was supposed to be us forever! You ruined my life!" Stanley yelled at him, his voice slightly cracking at the end. 

Ford growled and lifted his foot. "You ruined your own life!" he kicks Stan away from him and Stan stumbles back, falling to the ground and connecting his back to one of the machines. He screamed in pain as his shoulder was burned on contact. 

At the sound of Stan's screams, Catherine quickly stood up and ran over to him, bending down and asking the now semi-blacked out Stanley if he was okay. 

Ford started to do the same but Catherine ignored him as she now felt anger towards Ford as well. She turned around and landed a punch right in his face, making him stumble back towards the portal. 

When he stumbled back, he fell to the ground moving a lever that made a blue glow come out of the large portal. 

"Some brother you turned out to be. Lousy friend too. You care more about your dumb mysteries then your family, well then you can have them!" she yelled at him as she shoved the maroon journal at him and made him stumble back. He was suddenly lifted up off the ground and his eyes widened with panic. It was just like with Fiddleford. But this time, there was no rope to hold onto. 

"Whoa, whoa, hey, what's going on? Hey Stanford!" Catherine yelled, confused and now terrified. 

She panicked and before Ford had a chance to yell out, she reached and grabbed his arm. The action was a very stupid one though as she then only a few minutes later was lifted into the air as well. 

Stan finally was able to think, as the pain from the burn was tolerable. He heard screaming, Catherine's in particular, and he stood up so fast, he felt dizzy. But he didn't care. 

"Cath?" 

"Stanley!" Ford and Catherine screamed at the same time and Stan ran over to the portal. 

"W-what do I do?" he asked hopelessly. 

Ford threw the journal at him and Stan caught it as he watched, helplessly, as his brother and best friend get sucked into the glowing portal. 

"Stanley! Do something! _STANLEY!"_ Ford yelled along with Catherine. 

"Stanley, _help!!"_ shescreamed. But that was the last thing he could hear them say as they were finally sucked all the way in. The portal crackles and sparks shoot out of it until it finally shuts down. 

"S-Stanford?" Stan asks pathetically as he falls to his knees. He watched as Ford's glasses hit the ground and he gets up, running over the portal. "Stanford!" he turned and found the lever that turned it on and pointlessly ran over to it to try and turn it back on. 

"Come back! I didn't mean it! I just got him back, I can't lose him again! Come on!" He pulled on the lever but it was no use. The portal refused to turn on. He fell down to knees again and felt as tears streamed down his face. He tried to get to stop but as much as he tried blinking them away, they kept falling. Until his eyes caught something on the ground a few feet away.

Stan got up and walked over to it and picked it up. His heart broke into a million pieces as he stared at the crescent moon necklace with the angel on it. He fell down to the ground and this time he didn't get back up, as he let out a loud, heart wrenching sob, realizing he was now completely alone.

* * *

He stared up at the pair of glasses. He tried to go to sleep after many pointless attempts at turning on the portal. But with only one book, he couldn't figure out how. His heart hurt as he continued to stare at the glasses. He gripped the necklace in the other hand, not wanting to look a that object, knowing it would hurt him more than the glasses. So much more. 

He wished she could just come into the room right now and talk him to sleep, in that soothing voice of hers like she did when he couldn't get to sleep after getting out of prison. 

He never realized you could miss a person so much. That you needed a single person so much. But it only lit a small flame in him of determination. A flame that only grew to become a wildfire. He was going to get them back no matter what. Nothing was going to stand in his way. Nothing and no one. He was going to get them back. Even if he died trying.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it! Hope you all enjoyed it! It has been such an amazing journey for me writing this. If anyone want to read more, leave a comment or you can message me but for now, that is the end of my Gravity Falls story. Thank you to everyone who left a comment, and left a kudo. It meant the world to me. Other than that, so long! I will see you all in the Gravity Falls finale!  
> P.S.: All of the chapter names are songs. If you want to give them a listen as you read just search up the name of the chapter. If you don't know which artist, you can message me.


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